The Tell Tale Heart Insanity

The narrator in Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-tale Heart” is insane. Not only was the narrator unable to control his own impulsive behavior, but it’s also the difficulty in distinguishing fantasy from reality that really proves his complete and utter insanity. For example, the narrator describes hearing many things that aren’t there. Perhaps it’s his own guilty conscience, but nevertheless it's his lack of capability to realize it that truly makes him insane. For instance, throughout the story, the narrator describes how he can hear the beating of the old man’s heart, and it drives him mad: “The beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst. And now a new anxiety seized me-the sound would be heard by a neighbor!” (Poe 3). The

In addition to this, the narrator also speaks about being able to detect a sharp ringing in his ear, which all of the officers around him seemed to be unable to hear. The narrator, as anxious and paranoid as he is, ascertains that the officers must be making fun of him, and are in fact just pretending to be oblivious to the sound. Finally, the narrator of the story believes he spends an hour each night, watching the old man sleep. The reader can infer that this man is insane, because not only has he lost his touch with reality, but is now unable to have awareness of the time. He speaks of his careful actions with pride:“I moved it slowly-very,very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man’s sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha!- would a madman have been so wise as this?” (Poe 2) In reality, the reader will find it hard to believe that simple tasks like these are even possible to do at

Killing the innocent man is just the start. The narrator even admits he had no good reason for his murder, and that the old man has only ever shown kindness to him : “I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye!” (Poe 1) The old man’s peculiar eye was the only reason for his death, and only because the narrator found it particularly unsettling. This is only one example of how the narrator is held a slave to his delusions and compulsions. Another way that this trait is showcased is by the actual murder of the man. Everynight the narrator stood outside of his bedroom door and watched, merely fantasizing about killing him. However, on the night of the murder, the narrator was overcome by his delusion of a neighbor hearing his heartbeat that he is driven over the edge and finally kills him. As a final axiom of his insanity, in the end, the narrator tells on himself. Driven mad by the falsely deafening beating of his victim, he admits his crime: “Villains… dissemble no more! I admit the deed! - tear up the planks!- here, here! It is the beating of his hideous heart!” No sane man would admit his crime in that way, especially not after how meticulously planned it out, and made sure to cover his tracks. By doing this the narrator had backtracked all of his hard work, but not out of