The Central Idea of Madness in “The Tell-Tale Heart”: a Study of Poe’s Narrative Techniques

The Main Idea of “The Tell-Tale Heart”

This essay will evaluate the short story ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ by Edgar Allen Poe. The unnamed, unreliable narrator tries to convince the reader of the narrator’s sanity while synchronously outlining the murder the narrator committed. At the beginning of ‘The Tell-Tale Heart,’ the narrator talks directly to the reader when he tries to start the story with ‘It is true! Yes, I have been ill, very ill. However, why do you say that I have lost control of my mind? Why do you say I am mad?’ which is an alluring way to start a poem.

I feel that example addicts the reader immediately.

Then, the narrator of ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ gives limited hints about where ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ takes place. The narrator never gives the actual location of ‘The Tell-Tale Heart,’ but we can assume that it is located at the home of the elderly man with an evil eye. Although, it is known that they live in the same residence. On the eighth night, the narrator is caught by the older man. ‘Suddenly, the old man sat in bed and cried, ‘Who is there?’ I stood quite still. For a whole hour, I did not move.’ This leaves the reader asking questions to himself/herself, wondering what will happen next.

Intricate Narrative Techniques in “The Tell-Tale Heart”

This is a perfect example of suspense. Another excellent example is when he invited the officers to stay and chat for a while, but they did not leave. He thought he was playing a game with the officers, but in reality, the officers were playing a game with him. When the author creates a situation where the central character tells his account, the comprehensive impact of the story is enhanced. In this story, the narrator adds to the overall effect of horror by continually stressing to the reader that he or she is not mad and tries to convince us of how carefully this brutal crime was planned and executed.

The narrator helps communicate the theme of madness to the readers because, from the beginning, the narrator uses repetition, metaphors, and irony.” True!–nervous–very dreadfully nervous I had been and am, but why would you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses–not destroyed–not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heavens and the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad?” (Literature 37) “…Now, this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. However, you should have seen me.” (Literature 37)

As you can see, the narrator is mad because this story is told in the first person. It helps you understand the character even better because we are seeing what exactly is happening to him moment by moment. It helps us understand what is happening in his head because we get to know him throughout the story.

Delving Into Madness Through Figurative Language

The repetition in this story is phenomenal. He uses it constantly, adding to the madness of this man. “And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. You would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly –very, very slowly so that I might not disturb the old man’s sleep.” (Literature 37) He is insane and loses it every moment of the story, repeating words and using disturbing metaphors and similes. He compares many things, such as referring to the eye of the old man as the “evil eye” and the “eye of a vulture.” All the while doing this, the narrator believes that he is normal and is not insane.

The purpose of the figurative language used in this story is to coincide with helping the audience. “Ha! Would a madman have been so wise as this,”.(Literature 37) “It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed.” (Literature 37)

This story is a big exaggeration of madness, showing the actions and feelings of the narrator. The narrator helps us by using all these enormous exaggerations to understand how he has lost his mind and will commit murder. The narrator repeatedly insists that he is not mad; however, the reader soon realizes that the fear of the vulture eye has consumed the narrator, who, by this point in the story, has become a victim of the madness he hoped to elude. With all the figurative language, it would be easier to see that the theme of this story is madness. We see that the character never changes, but by the end of the story, the narrator finally realizes that what he was trying to convince himself of was utterly false. His madness, he revealed initially, only gets the best of him.

Reference

1. Poe, E.A. (1843). The Tell-Tale Heart. Penguin Classics.

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