Tell-Tale Heart
Blind Insanity Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart" is a short story about how a murderer's conscience overtakes him and whether the narrator is insane or if he suffers from over acuteness of the senses. Poe suggests the narrator is insane by the narrator's claims of sanity, the narrator's actions bring out the narrative irony of the story, and the narrator is insane according to the definition of insanity as it applies to "The Tell Tale Heart". First, Poe suggests the narrator is insane by his assertions of sanity. For example, the narrator declares because he planned the murder so expertly he could not be insane. He says, "Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen how wisely I proceeded-with what caution-with what foresight-with what dissimulation I went to work!" In addition, every night at midnight the narrator slowly went into the room of the old man. He claims this was done so wisely that he could not be insane. The narrator thinks that if a murder is carefully planned then the murderer is not insane. Also, the narrator claims he suffers from over acuteness of the senses. Regarding the sound of the old man's beating heart, the narrator says, "And now
And now a new anxiety seized me-the sound would be heard by a neighbor". Poe shows the narrator is insane because the narrators' actions bring out the narrative irony used in "The Tell Tale Heart". During the act of killing the old man, the narrator says, "I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done". This constitutes a disorder of the narrator's mind. Poe suggests this definition of insanity fits the narrator. In the earlier moments of the story, the narrator explains that he hears many things. Poe suggests this because as the narrator is ranting and raving the police are still chatting and smiling. This is also justified by how he hears the beating of the old man's heart under the floorboards even though he knows the man is dead. Through the use of narrative irony Poe shows reason not to trust what the narrator says and instead make judgments based on the narrators actions. The narrator says, "I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die". Poe clearly shows that the narrator is insane because he heard noises, which could not possibly have occurred. The narrator's reason for the murder of the old man is unjustified and deranged. The narrator is insane because his actions are criminally foolish and unreasonable.
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Acceptance Essays
