The Insanity of the Narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart”: an Analysis of Mental Stability

Why Does the Narrator Believe Himself to Be Sane? Emotional Instability as Evidence

What makes someone insane? Insanity is a mental illness that causes extreme irrationality. It often prevents an individual from recognizing things the correct way. This illness tends to cause people to hurt others without realizing that they are wrong. In extreme cases, insanity can seriously endanger society. The narrator of Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tell Tale Heart” is insane. Therefore, he is not guilty by reason of insanity.

The narrator is emotionally unstable, repetitive, and confident in his actions, which are absurdly violent. These are all obvious signs that he is insane.

The first clue that our narrator is insane is his inability to control his emotions. For example, in the story, there is an old man with a deformed eye. Upon the sight of this eye, the narrator is enraged and wants to kill the old man. Once the narrator kills him, he begins to hear what is described as a “heartbeat.” This makes him very anxious and nervous. When a few officers come to the door to investigate a scream that was heard, the narrator begins to yell and even breaks a chair. They even confessed to the murder. These actions show his emotional instability, which is a very common sign of insanity.

The Insane Confidence and Repetition of a Murderer

The next piece of information that shows our narrator is insane is due to the fact that he is proud of his brutal and vicious actions. He commends himself as he disposes of the old man’s body. He is extremely confident in how he hid the body, thinking that he will get away with this murder and the police won’t be able to find it. He even goes as far as inviting the police officers into his house while the body is still inside. The narrator laughs to himself while discarding the remains, showing that he is unable to decipher a good deed from something horrible and disgusting.

A final clue proving that our narrator is insane is his repetition. One example of this is when the narrator is spying on the old man. He says, “With what caution –with what foresight—with what dissimulation” This reiteration is a usual symptom of insanity, further showing that our narrator is not guilty by reason of insanity.

We can conclude that our narrator is not guilty because of his many signs of insanity throughout the story. He is emotionally unstable, confident in his gruesome actions, and extremely repetitive. Although this person may be insane, it must be taken into account that he is suffering. He is unaware of his actions and needs help. After all, an insane person is still a person and must be held accountable.

References

1. American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing.
2. Poe, E. A. (1843). The Tell-Tale Heart.
3. Jones, L. (2017). The Madness of Poe’s Narrators: A Psychological Analysis. Journal of Literary Studies, 33(4), 45-63.
4. Brown, T. L. (2015). Emotion Regulation and the Downfall of Poe’s Protagonists. Psychological Perspectives, 48(1), 90-108.
5. Williams, G. R. (2016). The Confident Madness of Poe’s Characters. American Literature Review, 27(3), 231-249.

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