Guilt And Insanity In The Tell-Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe

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In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," the narrator's obsession with the old man's eye serves as a symbol for the narrator's guilt and insanity. The eye, with its pale blue color and film over it, represents the narrator's conscience, which haunts and torments them. The narrator's fixation on the eye is a clear indication of their mental instability. They describe the eye as "evil" and "vulture-like," indicating that it has taken on a monstrous quality in their mind. This can be interpreted as the narrator's guilt and guilt-inducing conscience taking on a monstrous form in their mind. The narrator's actions towards the old man's eye also symbolize their descent into madness. They spend eight days secretly observing the old man's eye,