Insanity In The Tell Tale Heart

In Edgar Allen Poe’s, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the narrator murders an elderly man who he is living with. Throughout the story, the unnamed narrator is telling the reader about the murder and how he had done it. The narrator emphasizes the fact that he is very nervous but not angry. He also defends his sanity yet he is confessing to killing a man. The narrator seems to be very confused and guilty about what he has done, although he refuses to admit he is insane. The narrator’s motivation for committing this crime was not for money or hate, but rather because he feared the old man’s blue eye. The narrator compares the old man’s eye to a vulture which is very symbolic. The narrator sees the man with this ghastly eye as a threat to his well being, but it is he who is a menace to his own being. The lantern assists the narrator with seeing his worldview, allowing him to see things as he sees them, and not as what they really are. Throughout the story, the narrator describes himself as an animal, lacking emotions and the ability to show sympathy. The beating heart, in the story, reminds the narrator of his deed. The narrator’s insanity, paranoia, and confusion led the reader to believe he is unreliable. In “The Tell-Tale

Throughout the story, the narrator presents himself as an animal, lacking emotions and the ability to show sympathy. He takes pride in killing and stalking the old man like an animal, and even brags about committing the perfect murder. “‘Yes! Yes, I killed him. Pull up the boards and you shall see! I killed him. But why does his heart no stop beating?! Why does it not stop!?’” He becomes human, however, when he begins to feel guilty about what he has done. He begins to hear the dead man's heart, and not being able to continue with the remainder of his deed, he confesses. The heart reveals the narrator’s conscience, and after hearing it, begins to show that he has