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The Tell Tale Heart

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Author 's Note: Due to the fact that I have received confirmation from Ms. Todd that I am able to do this story (although it is not required reading), I will use this instead of the mandatory reading from this selection. If there has been any changed to this allowance that I 'm not aware of, please contact me and I will revise the essay. Thank you. The Telltale Heart is said to be one of Edgar Allen Poe 's most popular and satisfyingly concluded stories, and I do agree with that. The analyzation of the story shall include the characters and behavior, how they are affected by the plot, and how those two factors produce dialogue. Characters and behavior create a major part of any story, as this is what the plot and events are centered …show more content…

The narrator and the old man both have key character traits (the first having a murderous desire and a delusional mind, and the second having a kind heart but a strange eye) that influence the events that follow. The behavior of the old man and of the murderer can be seen as the mind of a madman contrasted against the mind of a normal person. The madman, having a distorted reality and therefore distorted morals, seems a more likely suspect of murder than a strange-looking but kindhearted old man who just wants a peaceful life. Because of this, we have our plot and our likely suspect, with his character traits and dialogue furthering his bloodlust. While there are not many direct quotes in The Telltale Heart, there is a lot of narration, which I will also consider dialogue for the sake of this essay. There is also the mention of spoken interaction within the narration, which is another reason why I will include it. While understanding a madman is a desire usually left unfulfilled, we can use the "inner dialogue" provided for a glimpse into the mind of a killer. The murderer 's constant denial of the fact that he is delusional and praise of his own immoral actions …show more content…

Conflict is very important to any story. It 's the situation that characters are thrown into (and therefore produces dialogue and interaction) and it what the resolution is a finishing point of. The obvious conflict here is that the old man 's eye causes the narrator to murder him and attempt to cover it up in a uniquely delusional way. The characters, because of this one-sided conflict, interact and behave accordingly as the plot inches along toward a resolution. The end of the story closes the book on a conflict in a way that can be either satisfying or underwhelming for the reader. The resolution, as mentioned before, uses the developments discovered in the middle of the story (and the details provided in the beginning) to come to an end. The resolving of The Telltale Heart 's conflict was admirably clever in the fact that it used the supposed beating of the old man 's heart to both come to a climax and

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