The Tell-Tale Heart Essay

By writing from the perspective of the narrator, readers are able to uncover his transformation and how the manifestations of his extreme nervousness paved the way for his fixation to the old man’s physical deformity.It is through his recognition of his obligation to remove the ‘evil eye’ from the old man motivates his quest for murder, validate his insanity and consequently continue to show his humanity through the symbolism brought forward by the beating heart he hears by himself.

All of these add depth to the story and enables readers to uncover the character’s exploits despite being written from the perspective of an insane man.

Overall, ‘The Tell Tale-Heart’ is a dark tale by Edgar Allan Poe that examines the extremity of actions that an insane man can do.

Other signs of paranoia are present when the narrator states that the policemen were mocking his horror, when in actuality they knew nothing of the crime (Paragraph 17).

The narrator experiences auditory hallucinations, another symptom of schizophrenia, when he claims to hear the old man's beating heart.

Using first person point of view is significant in that it allows the reader to engage in the thoughts of the narrator and, thus, make a conclusion about his or her character.

In Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," the reader can conclude based on the thoughts and remarks of the narrator that he is deranged and suffers from symptoms similar to those of paranoid schizophrenia.Looking closely, the unnamed persona in the story tries to justify that he is not ill but rather his state of extreme nervousness is caused by the heightening of his senses, particularly that of his hearing (Poe 1).Though this might seem to be the case, the inability of the protagonist to recognize his condition prompts him to fixate on other things such as the eyes of the old man he takes care of, resulting him to murder the person.However, it is possible for the narrator to mistake this sound with the beating of his own heart.Finally, the narrator suffers from extreme mood changes, again similar to that of a schizophrenic.One way of doing this is through the use of symbolisms.In the story, the beating heart represents the individual’s conscience as it tells him the mistake he committed in murdering the old man (Seneca 1).For instance, he states, "the beating grew louder, louder..sound would be heard by a neighbor" (Paragraph 11).It is physically impossible for a heartbeat to be heard at such lengthy distances.The piece talks about the life of unnamed narrator who is suffering from psychosis and his continued attempt to prove his sanity.Operating from the first person point of view, Poe enables readers inside the head of the protagonist and his current battle with nervousness.