The author uses his words economically in “The Tell - Tale Heart” yet he manages to provide an insight into mental deterioration. “It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night.” Unreliable narrators are compelling because they represent a basic aspect of being human. We all experience moments of unreliability, where we can't perceive or remember events accurately. We all get confused and do and say things we don't mean or don't mean to do or say. In a story like "The Tell-Tale Heart," this unreliability is taken to extremes. Versions of reality- illusion • He heard the beat of a heart – we hear a voice of a mad men – we both listen to something not reliable, what do we have in common? • …show more content…
Here, his version of reality is dangerous to himself and others. • The main character is mentally imbalanced. It is not merely that he commits a murder without a rational motive that convinces the reader of this. Instead, it is by telling of the crime from a first-person point of view, the reader is forced to notice the vast internal contradictions. The reader listens to the narrator – and hear the voice of a mad man. Can you trust a narrator like this? • He heard the beat of a heart – we hear a voice of a mad men – we both listen to something not reliable, what do we have in common? The house and the room: • The story takes place inside a house - about which few details are given - can´t see into himself. • the house can represent the narrators mind and the rooms - to and also the room A symbol for inner room – to look into oneself • Most of the story takes place in the old man's bedroom. – a demarcated place • Example: The old man keeps his shutters tightly locked. - when it´s dark you can´t see. • Furthermore, the room is all the scarier because it isn't described. - because we can't see