Poe's Use Of Motive In The Tell Tale Dawidziak

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The reasons are many, and the killing is one; Bringing down the curtain on a person’s life with a specific motive to a particular moment, after which the killing motive ends, which could be theft-revenge-betrayal, etc. But what if the motive for the killing was to eliminate someone's eye, which was similar to an eagle's eye? Does that sound logical? Of course not. But you will find a motive with logical and proven evidence if it is a story by the great American writer Edgar Allan Poe, who is considered one of the founders of the detective story and a pioneer of the short story that is based on investigative ideas in American literature (Poets, n.d). Poe presents an exciting dose of detective events and horror in his short story (The Tell-Tale …show more content…

In addition, the narrator's use of symbols added to the story a unique flavor, as this helped him to represent his ideas metaphorically and indirectly, which added depth to the story. For example, the eagle eye of the older man symbolizes the evil power of the narrator because it is seen as a supernatural force that serves as a reminder to the narrator of the things that cause him anxiety and of skills and aptitudes that are not based on logical solid foundations. Also, in the last scene, the narrator draws a vivid picture of his remorse and confirms his mental imbalance by using the words “the sound of the heartbeat under the floorboards. That madness makes him unable to differentiate between the reality in which he lives and his distorted perceptions, which leads the reader to wonder what is expected and what is not natural and whether the narrator was hearing the older man’s heartbeat after killing …show more content…

It is suggested that the narrator had a reason for killing him, which is the pale blue eye of the older man who became his opponent, who contributed to getting rid of him forever and in any way because it robbed him of his comfort and represented something mysterious and a secret that the narrator hides. No one can see that thing except the narrator (Dawidziak,