Analysis: The Tell-Tale Heart Essay

Analysis

The Tell-Tale Heart is a master piece of a short story. Edgar Allan Poe achieve this is several different way, but the psychotic mind of the killer really places you into another world. Edgar Allan Poe is in first person throughout the story from the killers point of view. The whole time you are seeing through these eyes of the killer and see every event and thought through this madness. The killer is masterful in his planning and really does it swiftly. This adds to the effectiveness of the killer being psychotic, and the more psychotic he is the more you get into character/story. The setting doesnt play a major role put this is a good thing because you only need to be in the mind of the killer to understand what is happening in the story. Another big part of the authors master piece is the way he uses language. There are several evidential parts throughout the story that add to the overall crazy killer. This author illustrates an individual who is intelligent, guilty, and crazy. Edgar Allan Poe creates a masterful psychotic killer.

First I will start with the authors point of view. The first person is all knowing from one individual in which this case is the killer. The story doesnt need anything else then from this point of view. The only thing that is confusing about the point of view is that Poe leaves you wondering what the murdered old man was thinking. I think this is a good strategy because it makes you wonder if he pushed or nurtured this killer to the point of murder. I think not knowing this just adds to the psychotic part of the killer. This adds for an overall effective ending too. From the authors stand point there is an internal debate to why this person wants to kill someone he openly omits to loving. If killing someone you love for just the way they look at you isnt crazy enough, then the premeditated stalking a lurking tops it off. For over a whole week he just stare at the old man in hatred of his vulture eyes. For some reason that doesnt make sense the man feels like his blood turns to ice when the old man looks at him. The only way to end this feeling is to kill the old man. The killer pardons himself for the killing by raving on about how clever he executed it. He also wishes that someone should have seen him commit the whole thing because it was flawless. This man would have gotten away with it, if it werent for the guilt that had built up inside.

The killer has an obsessive thinking pattern which juices the story up and adds to the craziness of the killer. The first obsessive think is the talk about the eyes of the old man. The author uses his first explanation mark thinking it was this old mans eyes turning this man into a killer. He states that these vulture eyes turn his blood into ice and show obsessive hate towards the man and elevated voices when ever this killer thinks of the vulture eyes. When the old man wakes up and stares into the darkness from the stalking and lurking killer. The killer gets elevated and kills the old man because of the vultures eyes could be seen. The made it easier to kill the man for this is the reason he claims he want the man dead in the first place. The language the killer uses is evidently obsessive too because he repeats himself several times throughout this story. For example while the killer is moving in the night he says that he moved very it slowlyvery, very slowly. He uses these dashes in the story every time the killer obsessively repeats himself.

The Killer reasons that he killed the man so swiftly and cleverly that it was okay to kill the man. He first tries to defend himself by saying you should have seen him and throughout the rest of the story he makes little comments of how intelligent he was to pull the whole thing off. He states that he was never kinder to the old man the week before he killed the man. He uses this as an example to hide from the old man. If the old man didnt even see it coming then who else could. It seems as if the old man wouldnt have any enemies. He describes himself as a professional in his manners of killing an individual he loved. Anytime he repeats himself in a obsessive manner he normally repeats some adjective describing the masterful plan. He also talks about how intelligent he was for dismembering to dead body and how clean he did it. He goes on to rave about how he stuffed the dismembered dead body under the floor boards to where no one would find the old man. He reasons that it was so intelligent that if you saw it you wouldnt judge him a murderer. It may be acceptable to him but his denial just adds to his craziness. Ethically it is wrong to murderer another individual.

Lastly, the killers guilt eats away at him, but described in a guilty manner. This is where the first person point of view comes into effect. If we would only hear the story from the officers point of view during the questioning of the killer, then we would not know the crazy thoughts and descriptions of the killers mind. From the officers point of view it looks like the killer confessed because of sudden guilt when the officers were convinced that he wasnt the killer. From the killers point of view he started to hear a growing heart beat getting louder and louder from beneath the floor boards. He is described in a manner of craziness. No dismembered dead mans heart can start beating again. This leads the reader to believe that the almost wants to get caught because the killer is the one who lingers and keeps the officers around the house, escalating the guilt and rising heart beat beneath the floor. I think that it is even weirder that the chair the killer was on was on the floor beneath the dead body.

Edgar Allan Poe creates a masterful psychotic killer. Through his useful strategies of first person, obsessive behaviors and language, he achieves a smart but deranged killer. From the killers mind you get a sense of craziness. The way he obsessively talks about the execution adds to the craziness. The words he uses to describe himself as intelligent and masterful adds to the craziness. And for stashing away a dismembering loved one makes for a psychotic killer. His own guilt eats him away in a manner of craziness, hearing the noise of the dead mans heart beat. This story is greatly crazy.