Guilt is the feeling of responsibility or shame for wrongdoing. For example, a child may have taken their friend’s snack, but felt bad later, as their friend was upset. The Tell-Tale Heart is a short story, written by Edgar Allan Poe. The narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart lives with an old man, whom he is good friends with. However, the old man has a condition that distorts one of his eyes. The narrator is terrified of this eye, as he refers to it as a “vulture eye.” The narrator, with great stealth, watched the old man every night. One night, he sees the “vulture eye,” and his calmness escapes him. The narrator skillfully kills the old man and successfully hides the body. Later, however, he loses his composure, once more, when he feels guilt in front of three police officers. He begins to freak out, consequently, giving away what he did. The narrator eliminated his only fear, the “vulture eye,” without a single thought, yet guilt had …show more content…
His ability to maintain control and stealth has been completely lost, as his insanity has broken free. “What COULD I do? I foamed-I raved-I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated the boards” (17). This scene particularly shows the narrator freaking out in front of the three police officers he had invited into his home. This is a prime example of the narrator’s insanity, of which he had been attempting to hide throughout the entire story. “‘Villains,’ I shrieked, ‘dissemble no more! I admit the deed!-tear up the planks!-here, here!-is the beating of his hideous heart” (18). So, as you can see, the narrator has completely lost it. He may not know it, but the heart beat he had been hearing was his own. He did not know he felt bad for murdering the old man, but his beating heart gave it away. The narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart did not seem like the type of person to be consumed by guilt, but it happened in the