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Edgar Allan Poe's Insanity

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Kerri Hoban Professor Sapakie ENH 241 10 January 2017 A Brief Glimpse into the Mind of a Psychotic Killer “I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad?” (PG 498). Edgar Allan Poe was a genius when it came to writing horror stories. He was able to embody the character and make them life like by throwing them into strange, but realistic situations. In order to be an amazing writer your audience should be able to picture what is happening as they are reading the story and while you are reading “The Tell-Tale Heart,” you are able to do just that. Poe uses outstanding metaphors that grant us entry into the depths of our imagination as he tells this thrilling story. Poe also makes it clear …show more content…

The reason for the main characters insanity is not because of the older mans behavior, no for the old man was sweet and kind to him, his reason for his horrid like thoughts are because of the older mans eye. The main character states, “One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture-a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold;…,”(PG 498) so this shows us that it is true, that the hate for the old man only stems from the disgust the main character feels for the eye. This is not a reason for a man, unless he was deemed insane, to kill another man; but that is just what the main character does, he sheds blood only because he dislikes the eye. As the reader goes deeper into the story they are able to notice just how psychotic the main character is. He begins to stalk the older man every night, peeking into the room checking to see when it would be the right time to strike. He is unable to do so until he actually sees the “vulture” eye at night. The main character refuses to hurt the older man during the day because he does not want him to know that it is he whom is ending the older mans life. So every night he waits for that perfect opportunity and finally on the eighth night the main character got his wish. “The old man’s hour had come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. He shrieked once-only once.” (PG 500), it …show more content…

But like it was brought up before the main character was fine right before, made it easy to lie to the officer’s face. He seemed normal, inviting, and carefree, when really his mind was a jumble, his hands still felt tingly from a recent kill and he had a thrill of taunting the police officers. It goes to show that anyone can fool anyone, looks aren’t always what we perceive them to be and maybe that is another lesson Poe was trying to show

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