Comparing The Tell-Tale Heart And Nothing But The Truth

What association does reality and perception have when someone speaks their truth? Two texts – “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe, “Nothing But the Truth” by Avi – both express a theme of truth and the relationship between reality, perception, and truth by demonstrating how a person’s perspective affects their experience of reality and how each person’s perspective determined if they are a reliable narrator. However, diverse structures are used to explain the character’s actuality. Although both books employ first-person, internal narration, “Nothing But the Truth” includes multiple narrators, which gives the reader a clearer understanding of what is happening. Reality, perception, and truth are all connected because one cannot exist

For example, “So you see he would have been a very profound old man, indeed, to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked in upon while he slept” (Edgar Allen Poe). For the narrator to watch this old man sleep is not normal, his behavior is odd in the novel. He perceives the man’s eye as evil, which is strange. According to Nothing But the Truth, “Is that someone humming… Philip, is that you again... Philip, I spoke to you yesterday about this… This is a time for listening. Now, please, stop singing” (Nothing But the Truth Chapter 11). In Miss Narwin’s class, Philip deliberately disobeyed her many times. However, the quote is provided to show that Philip is an unreliable narrator because of his perspective and childish behavior. It is seen in the novel that he does not like her, and his behavior is because of this. Everyone’s perception affects how they think, act, and feel. In Nothing But the Truth the reader was able to understand the different perspectives in the novel and understand why the characters acted or thought the way they

For instance, “And every night, about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and opened it… And this I did for seven long nights…” (Edgar Allen Poe). The reader understands the narrator’s actions and thoughts, but the reader is oblivious to what the old man was thinking. For example, were there any times that he was suspicious of the landowner, or knew that something was wrong? The reader’s understanding of the story is distorted because the narrator is mad and unreliable. Phillips’s version of a situation is a bit childish as he thinks nobody is on his side. However, Mrs. Narwin’s version of the same situation is completely different, “Yet I’ve been blamed for his suspension… I’m home—surrounded by letters, and telegrams too— from people, perfect strangers who know nothing about me, who hate me” (Nothing But the Truth, Chapter 17). Philip believes that he deserves justice, but he is not getting any, and that nobody agrees with him. However, Miss Narwin gets telegrams from strangers all over the country insulting her and blaming her. As seen, the reader can completely understand both sides of the story in Nothing But the Truth, but in “The Tell-Tale Heart”, there is a lot more inference and the reader is unable to understand other people’s