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The Tell Tale Heart Insanity Analysis

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Your Honor and Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, the defendant in Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” is not guilty due to reason of insanity. The definition of insanity being “n. mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior. Insanity is distinguished from low intelligence or mental deficiency due to age or injury.” using the McNaughton rule it will prove the Caretaker should be placed in a state hospital for the criminally insane. This rule states firstly in “The “Irresistible Impulse” Test - “As a result of a mental disease, defendant was unable to control his impulses”, which led to a criminal act.” Secondly it states in The “Durham Rule” - “Regardless of clinical diagnosis, defendant's "mental defect" resulted in a criminal act.” Lastly in The “Model Penal Code” Test for Legal Insanity - “Because of a diagnosed mental defect, defendant either failed to understand the criminality of his acts, or was unable to …show more content…
This proves that he is not mentally stable as no normal human being would smile and show no remorse for the murder of a man they had nothing against. It can be argued that this was due to the fact he was happy at the fact that he pulled it off successfully, but this was in the same day as the murder and he wouldn't still be happy if he was normal. To prove this he says “...I chuckled at heart” (90). This proves that it is funny to him which is a sign of insanity. In conclusion he is insane due to all evidence provided. Insanity is the reason for this murder due to how he behaved before, during, and after the murder. It was not planned ahead of this time and it was a mental issue that caused him to commit the murder. Due to this he is not guilty due to reason of insanity as clearly said

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