A Maddening State of Madness
Edgar Allen Poe is famous, or perhaps infamous, for writing very dark stories. Many of his works have the affect of indulging the reader in to the minds of dark, even evil, individuals. The inherent darkness in his stories are often attributed to the many tragedies he experienced in his own life. Two of Poe's most common themes are that of death and madness, and it is with the latter theme that Poe once again focuses his attention in the story The Tell-Tale Heart.
It is perhaps most interesting to note the point of view in which the story is told. We, as the reader, are given a rare insight into the mind of a madman, but what is especially of interest is that this particular madman is in obvious denial of his insanity. This first person view is deceivingly insightful, it is hard to distinguish between the true reality of what is going on, and the perceived reality that is warped by the narrators madness.
The narrator explains himself like a child who has done something wrong, and knows that you know it. Classic denial. Indeed, it is within the first two sentences of the story that the narrator feels he must convince the reader of his sanity. "Very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but what will you say that I am mad" (1110)?
Almost as if the reader has answered him with a resounding no, the narrator continues to try and convince the reader, and himself, of his sanity. "You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded-with what caution-with what foresight-with what dissimulation I went to work!Ha!-would a madman have been so wise as this (1100)?
He justifies his sanity with the logic that only a sane man could have such intelligent clarity and wisdom to plan a murder. This is of course completely mad logic as having wisdom in doing an insane act, still make the person insane for doing the said act
Just like a typical mad man, the way in which the narrator talks fluctuates rapidly. When the narrator first defends his sanity, he seems calm, relaxed, even intelligent. Then later, like the above passage, he seems to be rambling like a crazed lunatic.
It is the times when he is calm in his manner of speech, that he is in his deepest state of a denial, to the point where he almost has himself convinced of his sanity. Then when he begins to ramble, it is because he is having trouble convincing himself that he is not mad. Somewhere in his subconscious, whether he wants to or not, he is realizing that he truly is insane.
After the narrator commits the murder of the old man, any doubt of the narrators sanity is now gone from the reader. He is clearly insane. Of course, the narrator is even more stubborn the the most stubborn of readers, and still tries to justify his madness to himself and the reader. "If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence (1112).
Once again the narrator justifies his sanity, even after murdering a man, by speaking of the precautions he took, precautions that he believes only a sane man could of taken. The narrators outlook on reality is clearly warped, severely differing from the reality that the reader perceives.
The narrators warped view of reality is evident all throughout the story, starting with the narrator explaining the truth of what the reader perceives as his reality. And now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the senses? The way in which the narrator explain this over-acuteness of his senses is highly improbable, If not impossible. "I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth, I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad" (1110)?
It is interesting to note, besides the obvious fact that it is impossible to hear everything in the heaven and the earth, the symbolism that can be found in the phrase "I heard many things in hell." This statement is the narrators subconscious, eluding to the likely outcome of the narrators death. To hear, first hand, many things in hell.
Poe uses the narrators belief that he has this seemingly super hearing ability as a physical representation of the narrators conscience.
Meantime the hellish tattoo of the heart increased. It grew louder and quicker, and louder and louder every instantIt grew louder, I say, louder every moment!I thought the heart must burst. And now a new anxiety seized me me-the sound would be heard by a neighbor(1112).
He hears the old mans heart beating furiously, terrified for his life. It is however, not the old mans heart which the narrator is hearing, but it is his own heart, terrified at the act that its master is about to commit.
Poe does something very clever in the above passage, he further portrays the narrators warped sense of reality by describing the sense of anxiety that the narrator receives from the loudness of the old mans heart, fearing that it will wake the neighbors. Clearly someones heartbeat, no matter how scared they are, could never be audible to the point of waking their neighbors.
Where things really get interesting is when the narrator lunges in to kill the old man. "He shrieked once -- only once" (1112). The shriek of the old man, something that could easily be audible to the neighbors, causes the narrator no anxiety.
In fact, the narrator almost immediately shifts his attention back to the heart. "But, for many minutes, the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me; It would not be heard through the wall" (1112).
Again, the narrator thinks for a moment that the heart could possible be heard through walls and buildings, even to wake the neighbors. Yet he still thinks nothing of the loud shriek the narrator has let out. The reader can perceive that once again, madness Is perverting the mans sense of rationality.
The greatest symbolism between a heart, the narrators super hearing, and a conscience comes at the very end of the story. The narrator manages to convince the police officers that there is nothing suspicious at the house, even allowing them to thoroughly search it. The narrator is calm, speaking once again in his coherent, sane manner. It seems as though the narrator has gotten away with murder, but then the heart comes into play once again.
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