Tell Tale Heart

A detailed Summary of Tell Tale Heart


Within the human psyche there is a small and sometimes undefined line between what drives us to do good and that which pushes towards corruption. The battle to maintain balance between the two is the theme of Edgar Allan Poe's ''The Tell-Tale Heart.'' For sane individuals it requires a traumatic or life altering event to push them across the line, however for the insane it can be a very inconsequential event that drives them completely mad.

From the onset of this story the narrator tries to convince us, as the reader, that he is not mad, but rather has acquired due to an illness ''sharpened the senses.''(par. 1). The first instance in which we are let in on how acute his senses are is the case of the old man's ''vulture eye.''(par. 3). The old man's eye evokes an irrational fear out of the narrator from the onset. ''When it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees-I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.'' (par. 2). It was only this brief encoun


If the eye is what pushed over the line of sanity it would be the old man's constantly beating heart that would lead to his demise. The heart is first heard as only a faint noise in the narrator's head but it later beings to increase in intensity and begins to envelope his mind. It serves to increase his fury ''as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage,''(par. 10) and he finally commits the most horrific act by smothering him with his own bed until the heart ceases to beat. He then uses detail of how he disposes of the body in which he describes how cunning he is to try and make us believe that he is not in fact mad. But by this point it is obvious to us that he is indeed mad. With the arrival of the police officers at the end of the short story we are clued into a very important detail and that is the fact that the noise of the beating heart was that of his own, not the old man.

ter with the gazing eye of the old man that pushed him over the line. Shortly after deciding to kill the old man,

Some common words found in the essay are:
Tell-Tale Heart'', , Allan Poe's, tell-tale heart'', edgar allan poe's, Edgar Allan, eye pushed line, allan poe's, eye pushed, edgar allan, pushed line, beating heart, acute senses,

Approximate Word count = 690
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous

join now Save Paper

Related Essays

  • Tell tale heart ... day. In the story of the ampquotTell Tale Heart,ampquot a mans madness is prtryed in a manner that makes you think question his motives. The ... 521 words
  • TellTale Heart The TellTale Heart Blind Insanity Edgar Allen Poeamp39s ampquotThe Tell Tale Heartampquot is a short story about how a murdereramp39s conscience overtakes him and whether the ... 1328 words
  • The Tell Tale Heart Posistion Paper The TellTale Heart: Interperative or Escapist Human nature is a delicate balance between good and evil. Most ... 711 words
  • The TellTale Heart Like many of Edgar Allen Poeamp39s works, ampquotThe TellTale Heartampquot is full of death and darkness. Poe used many of the real life tragedies ... 1148 words
  • The TellTale Heart Edgar Allan Poeamp39s short story ampquotThe TellTale Heartampquot consists of a monologue in which the murderer of an old man protests his insanity rather than his guilt ... 2000 words

Professional Essays

  • ampquotThe TellTale Heartampquot The narrator of the short story ampquotThe TellTale Heartampquot by Edgar Allan Poe commits a murder, but the issue is whether this can be considered a willful murder or ... 1605 words
  • Two Stories by Edgar Allan Poe This study will provide a comparative analysis of two short stories by Edgar Allan PoeampquotThe Masque of the Red Deathampquot and ampquotThe TellTale Heart.ampquot As the study ... 2567 words
  • Edgar Allen Poe ... In short stories like The Cask of Amontillado, The Black Cat, and The Telltale Heart, Poe constructs a psychological world where alcoholism and the fear of ... 733 words
  • Edgar Allen Poe and the Gothic ... The protagonist in the story ampquotTellTale Heartampquot also has an intimate relationship with evil and its consequences. He is also obsessed with evil. ... 1667 words
  • Image of Death in Poeamp39s Stories Edgar Allen Poe presen ... five different themes in the following five stories: ampquotThe Masque of the Red Death,ampquot ampquotThe Cask of Amontillado,ampquot ampquotThe Sphinx,ampquot ampquotThe TellTale Heart,ampquot and ampquotThe ... 1639 words
  • Edgar Allan Poe Preoccupation with Death ... Poe often uses the ticking of a clock for this purpose, or the beating of a heart, as in ampquotThe TellTale Heart,ampquot or ampquotThe Black Cat.ampquot In ampquotThe Masque of the Red ... 2027 words


Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

  • "Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
    Jack M.
  • "With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
    Brian P.
  • "I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
    Sara J.
  • "I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
    Rachel W.
  • "I love this site!!!"
    Marie N.
Home Join Now Support
Acceptable Use Policy About us FAQ
All papers are for research and reference purposes only!
© 2002-2009 DirectEssays.com. All Rights Reserved.