Edgar Allan Poe summary - "The Tell-Tale Heart".
In "The Tell-Tale Heart", the narrator confesses to a murder he has committed.
He tells about how he felt compelled to kill the old man living with him because.
of the man's "evil eye". After watching the man in his bedroom for seven nights.
in a row, he finally kills him, cuts the body into pieces, and hides them under.
the planks of the floor. When the police arrives the next morning to inquire.
about a scream heard by neighbors during the night, the narrator is very.
confident that the police will not find out about the murder. However, the.
longer the police stay at his house, the more unsure he becomes. He imagines he.
can still hear the old man's heart beating under the floor planks, and he.
finally confesses to the murder because the sound of the beating heart is.
driving him insane.
"The Tell-Tale Heart" starts out with a plea for sanity. In sentences like "why.
will you say that I am mad?", "How, then, am I mad", "you fancy me mad", and.
"would a madman have been so wise as this", the narrator appeals to the readers.
and tries to persuade them that he is sane. However, as the story progresses,.
signs for his insanity are very numerous:.
1. His decision to murder a man because of his "evil eye" is simply absurd, and.
this impression of the narrator being mad is not weakened by the fact that the.
killer carries out the deed very "cunningly". During the preparations for the.
murder, the killer even rejoices at the old man's fear.
2. His reactions to the crime are those of a psychopath. He regards the crime.
as a necessity, and his first reaction to it is a smile. He only comments that.
the old man's evil eye won't trouble him anymore.
3. He disposes of the body without any feelings. This exact absence of feelings.
proves him to be a sociopath. The style in which he tells about the disposal of.
the body ("Ha!Ha!") reminds the reader of a mad scientist's laughter.