The Tell-Tale Heart

The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe to me is one of his greatest stories. The tone at the beginning of the story sets the mood for the rest of the narration. “True- nervous-very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?” Since the beginning of the story we notice that something has triggered the authors mind and because of it he is dreadfully nervous. Right away we see what the whole story revolves around. The author points out that he loved this old man who he knew which had done no fault to him, but he hated his eye. Edgar Allan Poe is very descriptive and passionate about this evil eye. Finally he mentions it is inconceivable how the idea got to him, but once in his head it haunted him day and night so he set out a mission to destroy this eye in killing the old man. Throughout the story the author talks as a first person and he mentions all the steps that were involved to execute this old man without any consequences.

After much planning and carefully getting into the old mans house he destroyed the evil eye. It was a quick death the one that the old man went through. What happens next in the story is what captivates me the most. The author decided to put the old man under the floor, so if anyone arrived they wouldn’t see the crime he had committed. Surprisingly enough, some cops show up at the old mans house and begin to speak to the author asking him if all was fine. The author sure of himself because he had left no track of his crime reassures the policemen that all is good and that they should come in and check. The peculiar thing is that the author begins to hear a tapping noise and at first he ignores it but it begins to grow louder and louder until it bothers him to the point that he himself confesses the murder of the old man with the evil eye.

In my particular case I believe that the story teaches us something very important. Whether we like to admit it or not we all have a conscious that tells us right from wrong. Our conscious accuses and excuses us. If we have done something wrong even though we might not get caught our conscious will forever be martyred until we confess what we have done.