The Tell-Tale Heart, Essay Example

Edgar Allen Poe’s use of first-person narrative in the story, “The Tell Tale Herat” is necessary in order for the story to be told. This is because the story involves the issue of insanity. A central question of the story is whether or not the narrator is actually insane. The emphasis on this issue is brought forward by the narrator himself who addresses the reader directly on this question. The narrator says “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” (Poe, 2000, p. 217). This strategy allows the reader to both identify with the narrator and conceive of him as insane. The narrator shows rationality in the telling of the tale, even though his actions are crazy.  By showing competence in telling the story, Poe creates tension in the reader. This tension is only resolved when the narrator breaks under the strain of his own hallucinations and confesses that he murdered the old man.

The act of concealing the body is further evidence of the narrator’s sanity and resourcefulness. He tells 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.” (Poe, 2000, p. 219). This is a way of suggesting to the reader that no man who acted with logic could possibly be insane. However, the question remains as to why, if the narrator is not insane, he would kill the old man. Only through the first-person narrative point of view is Poe able to resolve this question once and for all. When the narrator recounts that he can still hear the beating heart, the reader know that he is, in fact, insane.  The narrator writes that he hears the old man’s hear beating and that “until, at length, I found that the noise was not within my ears.” (Poe, 2000, p. 220). This is a giveaway to the reader that the narrator has been hallucinating all along. The drama and suspense of the story is only possible through a first-person narrative point of view.

References

Poe, E. A. (2000). Thirty-Two Stories (S. Levine & S. F. Levine, Eds.). Indianapolis: Hackett.