...mind of a man who is torn between his “id” and “superego.” In the short story “The Tell-Tale Heart,” by Edgar Alan Poe, a man cannot choose between right and wrong. Through the psychological theory I can prove how a man is torn between his “id,” “ego,” and “superego” and to proud to show his true identity of being a psychopath. The man is portrayed as the narrator and has taken on two identities one as a loving and caring man and the other is a psychopath. The “id” will take over his “ego” only to be taken over by his “superego” and eventually taken back over by his “ego.” Our journey starts with the young man, the narrator, telling us his story. The young man is a caretaker of an old man who is really old and has a diseased eye. In “The Tell-Tale Heart” the young man starts out by loving the old man very deeply. He takes care of his every need, until one day “ the old man’s eye fell upon him and his blood ran cold”(Poe 2). The young man then turned to his narcissistic ways and it changed the way he felt about the old man whom “he loved so dearly” (Poe 1). In “ Explanation of: ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ by Edgar Alan Poe,” which was rewritten by an unknown author, it explains how the narrator is a “paranoid schizophrenic”(pg. 1). The article explains how Edgar Alan Poe was obsessed with “death, madness, and troubled human relationships” (pg. 1). The narrator is definitely a man caught between normality and psychopath. Further more the young man goes on to “spy on the old man every...
Words: 1563 - Pages: 7
...misery, a sense of darkness, and a sense of pleasure from the relief of murder is shown in the beginning when Poe writes “The Tell-Tale Heart.” His work had been known for “nightmarish scenes, desolate wastes, and tragic passions” (Bloom 11).With this being said, Poe is representing those gothic qualities. In the statement, “it haunted me day and night” represents misery the man felt when he saw the old man’s eye (“The Tell-Tale Heart” 71). Another quality of his gothic style is distressed,“I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! He has the eye of a vulture - pale blue eye, with a film over it” (“The Tell-Tale Heart” 71). Although the other eye of the old man was fine, he felt agony because of how one eye had “a film over it” (“The Tell-Tale Heart” 71). Another statement that is showing Poe’s sense of darkness in his work is, “When it fell upon me, my blood ran cold . . .” it represents the darkness the man felt when he came in contact with the eye in person and how he watched the old man in his sleep (“The Tell-Tale Heart” 71). He would see it everywhere he went and especially, when he would creep into the old man’s house. A sense of pleasure is what he felt when the thought of what a relief it would be when he murdered...
Words: 1690 - Pages: 7
...Codie O’Neil Ms. Sampson English 11 December 4th 2015 The Guilty Conscience of Lady Macbeth vs. the Narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart” One in five people have mental health issues, but five in five people have mental health. William Shakespeare’s character Lady Macbeth from the play Macbeth and the narrator of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” both are examples of mental health issues. Lady Macbeth’s mental illness was brought on by the guilt she felt after committing a murder, but for the narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart.” the mental illness was present before the murder. This showing that it was not a result of guilt. Before the murder of Duncan in the play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth seemed happy and showed little to no signs of mental health issues. After the death of the king and guards, you can see the change in Lady Macbeth. She starts to sleep walk, she mumbles about feeling guilt and she no longer wants to be in the dark. In the play when murders happen it is always a dark stormy night, this is to set the mood of it being dark and scary. (Enter Lady Macbeth with a taper) DOCTOR. How came she by that light? GENTLEWOMEN. Why, it stood by her. She has light by her con- / tinually, tis’ her command. (5.1.133). Lady Macbeth doesn’t want to be in the dark anymore so she carries a candle with her everywhere she goes, even sleep walking. Another sign that the guilt of the murder sent Lady Macbeth into a mentally ill state...
Words: 1525 - Pages: 7
...wewefdswedfxcdfxwesrfkdsnremvdjwrefkjsdncserfdjknrfe redgn dfgdfjgk djgkdf gldj fgkjdlgjwlegj lwjrsljsfldkjgldfkjg woer;2qwee'gsegf/ sdgd gksldj ksdj fkgjskldj gThe Tell Tale Heart The Tell-Tale Heart is a short story by Edgar Allen Poe first published in 1843. It follows an unnamed narrator who insists on his sanity after murdering an old man with a ‘vulture eye’. The murder is carefully calculated, and the murderer hides the body under the floorboards. The narrator insists he is sane but suffering from a disease which causes "over-acuteness of the senses" which makes him oversensitive to sights and sounds around him. Edgar increases the tension by the stalking of the old man, the The Tell Tale Heart The Tell-Tale Heart is a short story by Edgar Allen Poe first published in 1843. It follows an unnamed narrator who insists on his sanity after murdering an old man with a ‘vulture eye’. The murder is carefully calculated, and the murderer hides the body under the floorboards. The narrator insists he is sane but suffering from a disease which causes "over-acuteness of the senses" which makes him oversensitive to sights and sounds around him. Edgar increases the tension by the stalking of the old man, the The Tell Tale Heart The Tell-Tale Heart is a short story by Edgar Allen Poe first published in 1843. It follows an unnamed narrator who insists on his sanity after murdering an old man with a ‘vulture eye’. The murder is carefully calculated, and the murderer hides the body under the floorboards. The narrator insists...
Words: 291 - Pages: 2
...Comparing the Theme of Madness in “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Black Cat” This Essay is going to compare theme of madness presented to reader in two short stories ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ and ‘The Black Cat’ both by Edgar Allan Poe. One might argue that the theme of madness is presented quite differently in both short stories if compared to each other. ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ presents us a true madman; the main character kills the old man because of the look of the old mans eye. This is highlighted by the piece, which was extracted from the story itself “I loved the old man. He had never wrong me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes it was this” Furthermore it is clearly shown that the madman liked the old man and he didn’t want old mans money. Madman committed the most atrocious of crimes because of the old mans appearance. However the main character doesn’t think he is mad and strongly believes that the old mans eye was pure evil, and this is highlighted by the quotes from “The Tell-Tale Heart”. “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 --with what dissimulation I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him”. The main character almost tries to compensate the murder by saying that he was nice to the old man before he killed him. Moreover, the main character...
Words: 1527 - Pages: 7
...The Themes of Madness and of Love and Hate in Poe’s “Tell Tale Heart” and Browning’s “Porphyria’s Lover” In Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “Tell Tale Heart” and in Robert Browning’s “Porphyria’s Lover,” both unnamed narrators commit murder and provide the audience with a seemingly unjustifiable reason as to why they murder their loved ones. In “Tell Tale Heart” and in “Porphyria’s Lover,” both narrators attempt to pose to the audience that they are not insane and effectively accomplish this through their tone and explicit narration. Two of the recurring themes within both Poe’s short story and Browning’s poem are madness and the tension between love and hate. The themes are reinforced through calm tone and passive tone and through the characterization of the narrators. In Poe’s “Tell Tale Heart,” the narrator opens up the short story denying the fact that he is insane and defends his statement by confessing to killing an old man in a very calculated and precise manner with the simple motivation being his fear of the old man’s “eye of a vulture.” The narrator goes through with his plan of murdering the old man and hides the body only to be engulfed by a feeling of guilt which leads him to confessing his act to the police. Throughout the short story, the narrator continues to tell the audience that he is not insane due to his “sharpened … senses” and his “calm” way of telling the whole story, yet it is his tale of murder that contradicts the very claim that he attempts to...
Words: 809 - Pages: 4
...2014 “A Question of Motive in The Tell Tale Heart” Why did the man in The Tell Tale Heart kill the old man? That is the question that Poe asks you to ponder in his story yet he gives us scant clues as to the answer. The motive eludes us even as the murderer is guilted into confessing by his own mind and then goes on to thoroughly detail his gruesome deed. The murderer will be referred to as “he” although his sex is never revealed, he refers to himself as a “madman” within this first person narrative (Shen, 287). This piece is tightly written, short to read and it builds at a frantic and hurried pace and then climaxes abruptly. This leaves the reader craving more details and to wishing confirm the man’s motives. Poe’s story consists of the author’s unique ability to create grotesque inventiveness and superb plot construction (Shen, 275). Some interpret the old man as the father of the murderer and his act a release of built up tension and resentment toward him (DeBord, 1). There appears to be no familial bond in the heart of the man when describing the old man, he also lacks the rage that one would expect if the act were resentment fueled murder. Instead the old man seems to be a fond acquaintance of our murderer, because they reside within the same home it can be hypothesized that one or the other is simply a boarder in the other’s home. There is no malice, no greed and no disdain to motivate him, he even claims to love the old man. When one compares his actions to his...
Words: 1605 - Pages: 7
...children watch the movie? we just read a story about the tell-tale heart it is by an author named edgar allen poe he was a man with one eye and he was stabbed and killed by a man and edgar was put in the floor. i strongly believe that we should not read this story. I think that it is innapropriate because it showes blood in play i would not let my kids watch it because it is innapropriate.the reason why i think it is not to be allowed at school is because of how i seen the play when the man had to kill the old poor man for no reason and all the blood i had seen. for instance i went and seen a play about it and i seen the blood on the knife when he stabbed and killed the...
Words: 524 - Pages: 3
...killers. In “The Cast of Amontillado” and “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Poe portrayed exceptional acts of madness, murders, and decay. In the case of “The Cast of Amontillado,” Poe’s character Montresor seemed mentally disturbed over a thousand injuries and an insult, obsessed with revenge. (1238). This demonstrated the instability or madness of Montresor mental well being. The individual here shows he was committing insanity by letting his emotions rule and not thinking logically. “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the person starts the story stating he is not mad which makes the reader sure of his mental illness. Eight nights he visits the bedroom of the old man, on the eighth night the eye opens; he grows furious as he looks at it and kills the old man. At the end of the story, his madness manifests into the form of the old man’s heart sounds. Illustrating he was insane before and after his killing of the old man. Montresor’s murder is careful calculated, and was illustrated with the trowel. Poe wrote he pulled a trowel from under the folds of his cloak, and he had stone and mortar ready beside Amstutz 2 the crypt before he lured Fortunato, his victim, to the catacombs (“The Cast” 1242-1243). The audience can obviously see that this homicide was premeditated. Fortunato had a long, slow death behind the bricked up wall. He did not suspect his plight, even at the very end he laughed and thought it was a joke. While, the old man...
Words: 686 - Pages: 3
...The Tell-Tale Heart vs. The Black Cat Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories, “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Black Cat,” have many similarities as well as differences. The two stories can be compared for both have similar themes as well as corresponding plots. However, the two stories also contrast considering their different endings. Both of Poe’s stories, “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Black Cat,” have the theme of death and murder. In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the narrator murder’s an old man with “a pale blue eye, with a film over it.” In the story, “The Black Cat,” the narrator murders his wife. The plots of the two stories are also alike for they both begin with the narrator reflecting on his crime, not seeing that he is “mad,” and end with...
Words: 269 - Pages: 2
...“The Monkeys Paw” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” are suspense filled stories, where the characters involved make choices and must live with the consequences. “The Monkeys Paw” is the story of a man being granted three wishes that bring him something he desires, but each comes with a horrible consequence. “The Tell-Tale Heart” is about a man who takes care of an elderly man as he, the caretaker, slowly goes insane. The authors carefully crafted cause-and-effect relationships in "The Tell-Tale Heart" and “The Monkeys Paw” to increase suspense and help the readers connect to the story. The suspenseful nature of the “The Monkeys Paw” is created by the cause-and-effect relationship developed in the story. The story is about a man and his family being granted three wishes, but each had a terrible consequence. After using the first wish, he realizes the consequences are worse than he had originally thought. The author...
Words: 483 - Pages: 2
...Edgar Allan Poe was an American Poet and short story writer who is best known for his dark and gothic writing style. Despite his stories have a mysteriously dark tone and often involving violence and death, Poe was able to write stories which keep the reader’s attention from start to finish. Great examples of this can been seen in two of his short stories: “The Black Cat” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”. At first glance they seem to have very little in common however, after reading and looking more closely, you will notice that they share some striking similarities. In this paper I will illustrate how Poe’s stories “The Tell-Tale Heat” and “The Black Cat” share striking similarities in both meaning, content and ultimately justice. As stated above, both stories share elements of murder and insanity. Both stories are also told by first person narrators who are in prison after being caught for the murders they committed. In “The Black Cat” when the narrator kills his wife and conceals her body in the wall. Similarly, in “The Tell-Tale Heart” the narrator kills the old man and conceals his body under the floor boards. The question is, what was Poe’s preoccupation with hiding bodies within the structure of a house? Was Poe a former carpenter/brick layer, thus making him imagine concealing the bodies in this manner? Did Poe have delusions of his own about someone hiding a body within the home? Was he himself guilty of a heinous crime and used his writing as an admission of guilt? Another...
Words: 861 - Pages: 4
...Reference. In my view, "The Tell-Tale Heart" foregrounds different stages of Ego-Evil as the narrator defines himself through the narcissistic eye, the malicious glare, and the enigmatic gaze of the other. In the story, the narrator clearly grounds himself as a powerful Master who can determine all values. As a result, he sees that he is sane, and that his disease is good. His disease has merely "sharpened [his] senses -- not destroyed -- not dulled them" (91). He remains an absolute Master who has an eye for the ultimate Truth, hence he can "calmly tell [the readers] the whole story". This episode foregrounds the way of the eye, which is always on the side of the Subject and its narcissistic fantasy. In the Lacanian context, the eye allows the self to see itself as a unified creature and as a judge, hence the eye is essentially related to the imaginary "identity-building" process. However, as the eye sees what it wants to see, "sight" or "insight" can mean bias. As noted by Ellie Ragland, the eye gives a narcissistic perspective of "unification and fusion" that does not guarantee truth, though it certainly offers a personal "principle of law or judgment" (95). In the story, the eye's bias shows itself when the narrator immediately views the old man's disease in a negative light. The old man's cataract is seen to be the "Evil Eye" (89). If we borrow Martin Buber's concept, we may as well call it the "I-Thou difference." John Cleman believes that the narrator's mental...
Words: 1469 - Pages: 6
...A comparison between A Tell-Tale Heart and American Psycho Introduction A Tell-Tale heart is about a man and his urge to kill another man. American Psycho is about a man and his urge to kill other people. The two protagonists are both insane and dealing with a comprehensive problem. There is one slight distinction between them; Patrick Bateman's victims are in plural, the narrator in A Tell-Tale Heart's victim is in singular. Bateman kills people for his own satisfaction, the nameless narrator does it because of his urge to get rid of an eye. Similarities Patrick Bateman and the nameless narrator both feel the judgement or "the eye" of the antagonist. This force them to do very drastic actions in order to control their psychological problems. The main character in American Psycho appears very normal to the public. This is getting clarified in the beginning of the movie, while doing his morning routine, this goes through his mind: "There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman; some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me: only an entity, something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable... I simply am not there. " (American Psycho).This gives the reader a big clue on Patrick Bateman's view of himself. He doesn't see himself as a real person, and all the people he meets and talks to never get an idea of the real monster that hides inside him. The only...
Words: 584 - Pages: 3
...The Tell-Tale Heart (Poe 691-695) by Edgar Allan Poe has stood the test of time as one of the most popular short stories in American literature and is still read in almost every educational institution in the country today. In this written discourse we will uncover the reason this is so. Poe intends to capture his readers’ attention and then employee psychological tactics that will play on your emotions in only a very short amount of time. Not stopping there he then uses a tactic of letting you believe that this could be possible and this could happen to me or someone I know. While all of this is happening Poe decides to let you inside the mind of what it is like to be a deranged killer who has serious psychological issues. When fist diving...
Words: 1106 - Pages: 5
