Sanity is a legal term denoting that an individual is of sound mind and therefore can bear legal responsibility for their actions. It is time for the jury to decide the mental state of Mr. Smith when he committed this homicide. He has already admitted to two police officers that he killed the man, dismembered the body, and hid the dismembered corpse under the floorboards to try and hide it. “Dissemble no more! I admit the deed!” (61) so therefore this leads me to believe this man who shall be named Mr. Smith was indeed sane. Mr. Smith understood what he was doing and he knew what he did was very wrong. By the legal definition of sane I strongly believe this man is sane. I believe he is sane because he did not have impulsive behavior, he knows …show more content…
Smith was very methodical and he planned his every move, idea, and procedure of this deed. Which is the exact opposite of uncontrollable or impulsive behavior which is a characteristic of being insane. “By degrees-very gradually-I made up my mind to take the old man’s life.” (56) this quote shows us that he thought long and hard about the pros and cons of taking the old man’s life. “With what caution-with what foresight.” (56) this shows us that he had to have some idea on what the consequences of killing Mr. Johnson would be. Mr. Smith also knew when he was going to kill Mr. Johnson, what he would do with the dead corpse, and the precautions he would take to hide the body where nobody would have ever found it before he even killed the …show more content…
Smith have the mental capability to take care of himself? I think that Mr. Smith had full capability to take care of himself and his actions. “For the shutters were closed fastened, through fear of robbers.” (57) this shows us that Mr. Smith can show a clear thought process and can think of things on his own and that he can use his mind to solve problems. He may not be thinking about the right things a human being should be thinking of, but he is still showing that he thinks about his actions. “You cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily-until at length, a single dim ray, fell upon the vulture eye.” (56) Mr. Smith thought about his actions and hsi operation on how to get into the mans room and commit his crime. Therefore, I personally believe that he has the ability and is fully able to take care of himself and his emotions. Even if in this situation he did not do the right thing, and did not control his fear of the vulture eye, does not mean that he is not able