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Tell Tale Heart Analysis

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Timed Essay Tell-Tale Heart, written by Edgar Allan Poe is a short story observed through the eyes of a madman, exploring the paranoia about a single old man’s eye. The Landlady, written by Roald Dahl is another short story that explores Billy Weaver’s unfortunate encounter with a murderous landlady. Both stories delve into the similar themes of murder, and do so through giving the reader little information about the actions and intentions of the murderer, thus creating a more interesting and surprising text. The thesis that relates these short stories is that both texts encounter and explore a murder. The technique of narrator perspective is used in both stories to develop the characters and provide a base to explore the main themes. Tell-Tale Heart is told in first person in the eyes of a character whom, at the start of the story, tries to convince the reader of his sanity by saying “Can you not see that I have full control of my mind? Can you not see that I am not mad?” These words, ironically, leads the reader to think of the narrator as more unreliable, as no sane man tries to convince others of his sanity. This unreliable narrator technique is used by Poe to create tension in the story, as the reader is unsure of the intensions of the murderer. The technique also helps the story explore the theme of murder, as an unreliable madman is generally more likely to commit these crimes. The Landlady uses vastly different techniques to convey the themes of murder. In The

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