The poem Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe gleams into the mental state of insanity. This story is told from the first-person stance of the killer, the protagonist, as he is an unreliable witness as a result of his mental state. Even though the killer insists he is seen throughout the narrative, the accounts from the narrative prove otherwise. The conflict in the story stems from the elderly man’s eye, in which the killer becomes obsessed with his appearance, and as a result, ends the elderly man’s life. Despite being published decades ago, this gothic horror is still prevalent in many facets of society. Mental health is a grave concern within the United States due to stigmatization. It is now clear that mental illness is more common than …show more content…
There are references to demonic possession in a wide range of literary works that stem from religious and cultural beliefs. When someone is possessed, they are believed to be influenced by an adversarial supernatural force or entity. In addition, the person may experience personality changes brought on by this supernatural being, including strange actions and hearing voices. Throughout the story, the killer expresses his "love for the elderly man," but he also explains how the "thought of killing him entered his brain" (Poe, paragraph 2). Poe describes his enhanced hearing through figurative language. "I heard everything on earth and in heaven, and I heard numerous things in hell” (Paragraph 1). This is when the murderer starts to experience demonic possession. You can visualize his soul being tortured by the voices relentlessly. In addition, the symbolic meanings of numbers are employed in this story. As to Poe's paragraph 7, the murderer would awaken at "midnight" and experience a "stifled sound arising from the bottom of the