A murder over a eye? It seems like a silly idea but that is exactly what happens in the thrilling story The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. In The Tell-Tale Heart, The main character(the narrator) is trying to prove his point of not being mad by describing in great detail the murder he committed. The narrator wants to kill the old man because of his eye and for seven nights he watches the old man in hopes of seeing the eye to give him the rage he needs to kill him. On the eighth night, the narrator accidentally wakes the old man and finally sees the old man’s vulture eye. The narrator commits the murder. The police arrive, on report of the neighbors hearing a shriek, and stay for a little bit. During the time, the narrator starts to think they know about the murder and are mocking him by staying. He eventually drives himself mad and turns himself in to the police. Suspense is the sense of growing tension,fear, and excitement felt by the reader. …show more content…
The narrator’s whole reason for murdering the old man is for his eye. The narrator said, “He had the eye of a vulture- a pale blue eye, with a film over it” (Poe 89). He gave examples of how the eye looked and described the eyes color leaving the reader able to see the eye in his mind. It also creates suspense because it leaves the reader wondering why that creepy eye infuriates him so much and what the big deal over it is. He also uses vivid words to describe how the anxiety got to the narrator, “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 rose over all and continually increased” (Poe 94). Well reading this you can imagine him being loud and swearing or how he “raved” and you can “hear” how the noise “continually” became louder and louder. This builds suspense because as the reader is reading over this they are again left wondering what he is going to do and wanting to know what is going to