ipl-logo

The Tell-Tale-Heart Insanity

830 Words4 Pages

The man accused of murder has confessed to the crime and led the police straight to the mutilated body of his victim. On the night of murder, the narrator killed the old man by suppressing him with a bed and suffocating him to death. He was vexed by the old man’s “evil eye” which motivated the narrator to murder the old man. In spite of the evidence proving that the murderer is insane, he is clearly sane and should be accused guilty. Primarily, the murderer explained the process of murder, he was describing all the little details that an insane person would not have remembered. “The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence. First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.” An insane person …show more content…

In “The Tell-Tale-Heart”, the narrator said things that could be understood in two different ways. “I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die!-and now-again! Hark! Louder! Louder! Louder!...” From the defendant’s point of view, this may sound as if the narrators full of fear and anxiety which are symptoms of insanity. Also, the narrator heard the heartbeat of the old man’s heart, who is dead. It is physically impossible for a heart of a dead and dismembered body to beat. This is the evidence that will persuade the audience to believe that the narrator is insane. However, stated by Dr. Mary C. Lamia in “The Complexity of Fear”, “...Fear and anxiety are important to differentiate...these emotions can transform into behaviors that may lead you to avoid situations or into defense mechanisms that may obscure the recognition of reality...they have been understood as keys to the dynamics of emotional illness.” People may think that the narrator has a mental illness due to all the unusual things he says and does however, all of his abnormal behaviors could be the result of fear and anxiety. For example, the heartbeat of the dead man could’ve been the heartbeat of the narrator, himself. His guilt towards the murder dominated his thoughts which caused him to be

Show More
Related

Why Is Edward Anderson Insane

762 Words | 4 Pages

--tear up the planks! Here here! --It is the beating of his hideous heart!” Sane people cannot hear someone’s heartbeat after one’s death. This piece of evidence proves that he is insane since he had already killed the old man, yet, he claims to hear the old man’s heart.

Read More

Subject A Is A Psychotic Serial Killer

1191 Words | 5 Pages

He also showed that he had a motive for murder, this was proven when he stated “I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever” which shows that his reason for the murder was the old man’s eye. To conclude, Subject A had very low autonomic arousal which made him cold, callous, dispassionate and a reason for

Read More

Tell Tale Heart Sane Or Insane Analysis

565 Words | 3 Pages

Yes, taking these precautions was sane of him, but stalking, murdering, and hallucinating are all traits that lead towards being insane. In the end, the narrator did prove to be insane, with his reasonless murder, and absurd hallucinations. But all in all, even if the evidence does lead to the narrator being insane, as Poe once said, “The scariest monsters are the ones that lurk within our

Read More

Insanity In Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart

717 Words | 3 Pages

Even though individuals can respond differently to signs of insanity, being extremely foolish or mental illness towards the actions without worrying about the consequences. Throughout the story, we clearly believe that the unnamed narrator repeatedly paranoid, insists he is sane, physically and mentally illness, his actions, and motivations. The narrator feels that a disease is making him feel better, but in reality a disease makes us feel worse like cancer. The narrator speaks directly to us, and he states: "True! —nervous—very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad” (Poe 884).

Read More

First-Degree Murder In The Tell-Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe

960 Words | 4 Pages

The noise became so loud and painful that he revealed that he murdered the man. While some may believe that the murderer is criminally insane, he clearly proves to be a merciless killer through

Read More

The Argumentative Paragraph In The Tell-Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe

558 Words | 3 Pages

The Tell-Tale Heart Argumentative Paragraph In the story, “ The Tell-Tale Heart ,” Poe gives ideas which could prove that the narrator is criminally insane. The narrator could be named mad for some of his many actions and thoughts. The facts supporting this include: the defendant killed the old man over his “evil eye”, he brutally murdered the man and dismembered his body, he has to remind himself that he isn’t mad even though he committed murder, and states that he hears the dead man's heartbeat get louder and louder until he confesses murder. To begin with, the defendant kills the old man he lived with over his “evil” eye. He states that it gets to him, and drives him to eventually, after the 8th night, kill him.

Read More

A Literary Analysis Of The Tell-Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe

560 Words | 3 Pages

The Style of Poe Analysis In “The Tell-tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe, the demented, arrogant and dark tones reflect the man’s guilt and insanity that eventually leds him to admit to the crime he committed. Poe’s diction heightens the arrogant tones which is seen as the man plans the murder and carries it out in a careful, organized way. He goes “boldly” into the chamber, “cunningly” sticks his head in the doorway and feels “the extent of his own power”. Poe’s use of diction shows how cocky the man actually is.

Read More

An Analysis Of Insanity In The Tell-Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe

557 Words | 3 Pages

Insanity is a disease capable of making a person lose control of themselves. On the other hand, sanity is when a person is what others call “normal”. In “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe the narrator kills a man and he is confessing to the cops about it. He confesses how long the murder took and what he did each night and how he executed the murder. However, the narrator is not guilty because of the reason of insanity.

Read More

The Tell Tale Heart The Narrator's Insanity Analysis

945 Words | 4 Pages

(Prepositional Phrase) Any lucid individual would not think that killing someone made him or her into a superhuman, let alone think about killing someone in the first place. Finally, the narrator’s conscious drove him mad. In the final scene of “The Tell-Tale Heart,” while the police were sitting with the killer, thoughts kept racing through his mind. Guilt finally overflowed his brain, and that forced him into confessing his responsibility in the old man’s slaughter.

Read More

Paranoid Schizophrenia In Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart

1107 Words | 5 Pages

Those with Paranoid Schizophrenia are not reliable sources of information to explain a situation truthfully. One of the effects of Paranoid schizophrenia is that the narrator

Read More

To What Extent Is The Narrator Insane In The Tell Tale Heart

496 Words | 2 Pages

Insane or Sane? The terrifying story, “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe is down right bizarre. I believe the narrator is definitely a little strange whether you may disagree or not. Edgar Allen Poe had a very interesting way of applying the narrator to act like he is not crazy, but at the same time basically baby feeding the readers that he really is crazy. There are several ways the narrator himself is actually proving he is insane.

Read More

Examples Of Paranoia In The Tell Tale Heart

1164 Words | 5 Pages

Obsession, internal conflict, and underlying guilt are all aspects of being human but when it’s associated with paranoia and insanity it may be just the recipe for the perfect crime as perceived by Edger Allan Poe in “The Tell-Tale Heart”. Poe uses this as one of his shortest stories to discuss and provide an insight into the mind of the mentally ill, paranoia and the stages of mental detrition. The story 's action is depicted through the eyes of the unnamed delusional narrator. The other main character in the story is an old man whom the narrator apparently works for and resides in his house. The story opens off with the narrator trying to assure his sanity then proceeding to tell the tale of his crime, this shows a man deranged and hunted with a guilty conscience of his murderous act.

Read More

Tell Tale Heart Thesis

760 Words | 4 Pages

In the story, the narrator says “It was the beat of the old man's heart”(Poe). While hearing a heartbeat right before killing the old man. This proves that the old man is insane, because he believes that his own nervous heartbeat was that of the old man’s. A sane person would know that the heartbeat was that of their own and would know that you can't hear a dead man's heartbeat. The narrator also said that “The sound would be heard by a neighbor”.

Read More

Edgar Allan Poe Guilt

1499 Words | 6 Pages

Additionally, Poe uses the heart to symbolize the narrator’s guilt and conscience as he says “I foamed - I raved - I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose overall and continually increased. It grew louder - louder - louder!” Although the narrator already killed the old man, he still hears the heartbeat because the consequences of guilt are inevitable. This is depicted when the narrator exclaims “Villains!”

Read More

A Madman In Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart

821 Words | 4 Pages

The narrator of “The Tell-tale Heart” is a madman who does not believe he is insane but continues to show otherwise during the telling of how he kills the old man to police officers. After a week of planning the murder, he still did not find satisfactory because he could still hear the beating of the old man’s heart. Also, if one is not a madman then why would one commit such a crime just because of an eye. While the narrator explains the story of how and why he commits murder, one can conclude that some details are unrealistic throughout his story. Which leads him to come off as a psychopath because of the details and the reason behind killing the old man.

Read More

More about The Tell-Tale-Heart Insanity

Open Document