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The Tell-Tale Heart Guilt

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“Guilt is perhaps the most painful companion of death,” - Coco Chanel. Guilt is the agony of knowing one has committed a dissolute action. Sometimes, it can be as overwhelming as death itself. In “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator feels remorse after killing his landlord for no legitimate reason. In “I Can Stand Him No Longer” by Raphael Dumas, the narrator is guilty of hate. Thus, Poe and Dumas portray the thematic topic of guilt through literary elements.

Using similes, Poe develops the central idea of guilt. The narrator had convinced the police officers that he/she was innocent but could not subdue his remorse for the terrible deed that he had committed. “No doubt that I now grew VERY pale; but I talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased--and what could I do? It was a LOW, DULL, QUICK SOUND-- MUCH SUCH A SOUND AS A WATCH MAKES WHEN ENVELOPED IN COTTON” (Poe 18). The narrator’s conscience knew that it had been wrong to kill his landlord just because he/she disliked the his eye. The sound was the narrator’s own heart beating quickly because the narrator was nervous and unable to convince …show more content…

The narrator despises a man that he sees everyday but cannot get rid of him. “Once again I cross paths with this scourge, / This hatred for him I would like to purge. / But how can I, without losing respect? / The community will hate me, or at least that’s what I’ll expect” (Dumas 35-36). Despite the fact that he/she could not ignore his hatred for the man, the narrator wanted to remain on good terms with the rest of society. This internal conflict within the narrator develops the battle between guilt and personal opinions. Often than not, human nature causes people to do impulsive things that are regretted later. Guilt is what tells people to stop and think about what has been done, such as it did for the narrator. Thus, Dumas depicts guilt through the internal

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