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Why Is The Tell Tale Heart Truly Insane

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Rebecca Levengood
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The Tell Tale Heart

Upon reading “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, it is a very dark and gruesome story. This story is about a man whom is unknown, who murders an old man for a completely out of the ordinary reason (not that there are a bunch of normal reasons to murder someone). This unknown character tells the story to attempt to prove that he is not absolutely insane There are many things that leave the reader thinking things like, “How could one think like this”, “how could one do something like this”, “why”? There is no doubt that this is a truthfully horrific story. There are a few key points to discuss that will hopefully brighten up the reasoning behind this madness. The key points to discuss …show more content…

His validity becomes questioned in the beginning of the story when he insists on his clarity of mind – “but why would you say that I am mad” (edgar allen poe). He has clear logical gaps that can only be explained by his insanity. There is a strong vibe that shows he or she may have not have been telling the truth behind what may have happened. The narrator’s entire point was to prove that he/she is no absolutely insane. At one point, he does a very good job of proving this by stating “Ha! – would a madman have been so wise to do this?“ (xyz). He uses dissimulation to attempt to do this. At the same time of trying to prove the sanity, it makes the reader think he might be twisting the truth as well. At a point in the story, the narrator tells us about the old man, how he feels and what he is thinking. An example of this is “Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror…I knew the sound well. Many a night…it has welled up from my own bosom” (edgar allan poe). You can see that the narrator’s view of the man’s thoughts is a reflection of his own experience. The narrator cannot be trusted to tell the truth. His emotional instability shows a clear argument to good judgment. An unreliable narrator can be convincing because they represent aspects of being human. It is really easy to be confused by the things he says. Although the unreliable truth the narrator shows,

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