Posistion Paper - The Tell-Tale Heart: Interperative or Escapist
             Human nature is a delicate balance between good and evil. Most of the time there is an unknown balance and the evil is subdued; however, when there is a shift, for whatever reason, the dark or evil side of human nature can surface. In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart", readers come across a man whose "blood runs cold" because of an old man's evil eye. It is this irrational fear which evokes the narrator's dark side and eventually leads to murder. The author utilizes the "Tell-Tale Heart" to convey the nature of life and how one can stray into insanity. The author combines this theme of human nature with subtle irony to create a horror story which is clearly an interpretive type of writing.
             "The Tell-Tale Heart" first starts off with the narrator denying his insanity: "You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded ..". The narrator is trying a great deal to prove his sanity to the readers; however, the irony of this is that the narrator is trying so hard to convince readers, but in reality is creating a feeling of insanity and hysteria to be seen in the narrator.
             The narrator states, ". . . very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease has sharpened my senses--not destroyed--not dulled them .." This disease is not in reality a disease of sharpened senses, but a disease of a severe case of nervousness, which causes the narrator to hear and do irrational things. Before the narrator murders the old man he starts to "hear" the old man's heartbeat: "I knew that sound well too. It was the beating of the old man's heart....It increased my fury..". This heart beat is caused due to the narrator's nervousness. He is overwhelmed by emotions and murders the old man. Shortly after a knocking was heard at the door, and when the narrator answered it, he found t
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