The Tell -Tale Heart-Edgar Allan Poe| Additional English for B.A/B.Sc/B.COM/B.B.A
American Literature
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The Tell Tale Heart
Edgar Allan Poe
About the author
"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843."The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story related by an unnamed narrator who endeavours to convince the reader of the narrator's sanity while simultaneously describing a murder the narrator committed. The victim was an old man with a filmy pale blue "vulture-eye", as the narrator calls it. The narrator emphasizes the careful calculation of the murder, attempting the perfect crime, complete with dismembering the body in the bathtub and hiding it under the floorboards. Ultimately, the narrator's actions result in hearing a thumping sound, which the narrator interprets as the dead man's beating heart.
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of romanticism in the United States, and of American literature. Poe was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story, and considered to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre, as well as a significant contributor to the emerging genre of science fiction.
Summary of the lesson The Tell Tale Heart
In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," the story opens with the narrator addressing the reader who attempts to prove his own sanity in the wake of having murdered an old man. He is claiming that he is not mad and loves the old man very much, but was disturbed by his "evil eye," which he alleges, drove him to murder. The narrator is living with an old man with a clouded, vulture-like eye.
The narrator is saying that his motivation behind the murder, was neither passion nor desire for money, but has feelings of paranoia and becomes afraid of the old man's strange eye. The narrator becomes so bothered by the eye that he plots to murder the old man so that he could get rid of the eye forever.
For seven days, the narrator sneaks into the old man's room at night, watching and waiting for the right time to strike. He takes extreme measures in order to avoid waking the man as he enters each night. At twelve o'clock, he would so gently open the door of old man's room, and would quietly and cunningly poke his head very slowly through the door to get inside to kill the old man. He could not do it because he claims he needs the old man's eye to be open in order to kill him, as it was his eyes which was bothering him.
On the eighth night, unlike the preceding nights, the narrator's hand slipped on the clasp of the lantern, and the old man immediately sprang up in bed, The narrator knew that the old man felt that he was in the room and he then opened his lantern to let a small ray of light out, to fell full upon the vulture eye and seeing the vulture eye of old man he is becoming furious. Then suddenly there came to his ears a low, dull, quick sound which was the beating of the old man's heart. The narrator became aware that the old man's heartbeat was so loud that the neighbours might hear it. So he dragged the old man to the floor, pulled the mattress over him and is murdering him.
After murdering the man, he chopped up his body and put him under the floorboards. A shriek had been heard by a neighbour during the night which aroused the suspicion of foul play and so information was lodged at the police office and the officers were deputed to search the premises.The narrator told the police that the noise heard was his own in a dream. He invites the police to sat in the old man's room and placed his own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the old man.
The policemen did not had any suspicion. the narrator's insanity reaches a whole new level when he hears the exact same sound once again and comes to the conclusion that it is the dead man’s heart beating below the floorboards. Most likely the pounding in his ears was coming from his own heart beating, but his mind was filled with paranoia caused by his disease.In panic, he got scared that the policemen may also hear the sound and know his guilt. Driven mad by the idea that they are mocking his agony with their pleasant chatter, he confesses the crime and asks them to open the floorboards.
A consolation-Sonnet 29 William Shakespeare
Short answer questions
.
The disease had sharpened the senses of the narrator.It sharpened his sense of hearing.He could hear all things in heaven and earth and many things in hell.
2.Why is the narrator irritated with the old man"
The narrator was irritated with the old man's eyes.The old man had the eyes of a vulture which was pale blue with a film over it.Whenever his eyes fall on the narrator his blood used to run cold.
3.How does the narrator decides to harm the old man?
The narrator is living with an old man with a clouded, vulture-like eye. The narrator has feelings of paranoia and becomes afraid of the old man's strange eye. The narrator becomes so bothered by the eye that he plots to murder the old man so that he could get rid of the eye forever. For more than a week, the narrator sneaks into the old man's room at night, watching and waiting for the right time to strike.
What did the old man do when he heard a noise?
When he heard the noise the old man sat up and asked who was there.He then sat there listening to the noise and the narrator could hear a slight groan from the old man which was of mortal terror as the old man was overcharged with awe.His fears were growing upon him and he was trying to fancy them as causeless.Though he was trying to comfort himself with suppositions, he found all in vain.
Why did the narrator wait for a week to kill the man?
The narrator waits for a week to commit his crime in "The Tell-Tale Heart" because he claims to need the old man's eye to be open in order to kill him as it was his eyes which was bothering the narrator.For more than a week, the narrator sneaks into the old man's room at night, watching and waiting for the right time to strike. Interestingly, the narrator takes extreme measures in order to avoid waking the man as he enters each night. This further supports the fact that the narrator was insane.
What triggered the police investigation?
A shriek had been heard by a neighbour during the night which aroused the suspicion of foul play and so information was lodged at the police office and the officers were deputed to search the premises.
What explanation did the narrator give for the noise heard?
The narrator told the police that the noise heard was his own in a dream.
Where does he make the police sit?
The narrator invites the police to sat in the old man's room
Where does the narrator sits during the investigation?
The narrator placed his own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the old man
A consolation-Sonnet 29 William Shakespeare
Answer the following in a paragraph or page
1.The narrator claims he is not mad.What evidence do we have to prove that he is mad?
In the story “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe there are many evidences to prove that the narrator is mad. The narrator murders an innocent old man because he believes the man
has an “evil” eye. The fact that the narrator plans to kill the old man
purely because the old man’s eye bothers him is a
sign of insanity.
Though narrator claims that he is not mad and tries to defend his sanity numerous times throughout the story, there are even more evidence to
suggest that he really is mad. By the end of his testimony, it is clear that the narrator is criminally insane and really needed help to deal with his paranoia and other mental issues.
The narrator begins his testimony by explaining that it is true that he is nervous, but that he is not mad. He claims, that the
disease had sharpened his senses. So even the narrator admits that he has some kind of disease,
and he believes this is the reason he can hear things in heaven and hell. However, hearing voices is a sign of a mental illness, and the fact that the narrator does not see any problem with hearing voices adds to the argument that he is insane.
He must be insane if he thinks a neighbour could
hear the old man’s heartbeat through the wall,
especially when he admits that he himself can only
hear it because of his over acuteness of the senses.
The fact that he smiles happily after murdering the
old man—a man he said had never wronged him—
shows how mentally ill he is.
The proof that the narrator is criminally mad is the joyful way he responds to the suffering of others. When the narrator sneaks into the old man’s room on the eighth night, and the man sits up in his bed, the narrator says, he heard a slight groan, and he knew it was the groan of mortal terror.,as he knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although he chuckled at heart.The old man was terrified, and the narrator just laughs at his fear, even though he himself can sympathize with the horrible feeling. He enjoys listening to the old man suffer which is not possible with normal people.Only people who are mentally ill can find such situations entertaining.
Then at the end of the story, the narrator's insanity reaches a whole new level when he hears a sound which he describes as “a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton”. He is certain he knows the source of this noise, and says it was the beating of the old man’s heart. and comes to the conclusion that it is the dead man’s heart beating below the
floorboards. People who are normal and sane know that it is difficult to hear such a faint sound without a stethoscope.Most likely the pounding in his ears was coming from his own heart beating, but his mind is filled with paranoia caused
by his disease.It is this imagined sound—a result of his mental illness that finally drives him in his sudden confession to the police officers that he has been working so hard to deceive.
2.Why does the narrator wanted to kill the old man?
In the story “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe, the narrator murders an innocent old man because he believes the man
has an “evil” eye.The narrator is saying that he himself doesn't know how the idea of killing the old man got into his mind, as he believes there was no object or passion in doing that crime. The narrator says he loved the old man as he had never wronged him or given him insult. The narrator even never had any interest in the old man's gold, but is saying that, it was the old man's eyes a problem for him. The narrator was irritated with the old man's eyes.The old man had the eyes of a vulture which was pale blue with a film over it.Whenever his eyes fall on the narrator his blood used to run cold.So he is finally making up his mind to take the life of old man and thus rid himself of the eye forever.For seven days, the narrator sneaks into the old man's room at night, watching and waiting for the right time to strike.He
argues that he was unable to commit the murder during
those seven nights because it was not the old man who
vexed him, but his evil eye.
On the eighth night, unlike the preceding nights, the narrator's hand slipped on the clasp of the lantern, and the old man immediately sprang up in bed, The narrator knew that the old man felt that he was in the room and he then opened his lantern to let a small ray of light out, to fell full upon the vulture eye and seeing the vulture eye of old man he is becoming furious. Then suddenly there came to his ears a low, dull, quick sound which was the beating of the old man's heart. The narrator became aware that the old man's heartbeat was so loud that the neighbours might hear it. So he dragged the old man to the floor, pulled the mattress over him and is murdering him.Thus his insanity is making him murder the old man.
3.What does the narrator do with the dead man's body?
When the narrator was confirmed that the old man was dead, the narrator took wise precautions for the concealment of the body.The night waned and the narrator worked hastily but in silence. First of all he dismembered the corpse. He cut off the head, and the arms and the legs.He then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber and deposited all between the scantlings. He then replaced the boards so cleverly and cunningly that no human eyes, not even his, could have detected anything wrong.There was nothing to wash out, no stain of any kind or no blood spot , for he had been too wary for that.A tub had caught it all.
4.What does the story's title mean?
The title of the short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe has both a literal and a symbolic meaning. In the literal sense, the title reflects how the sound of a beating heart makes the narrator confess his crime and how the beating of the old man's heart brings out his fear. In the symbolic sense, the tell-tale heart reflects the guilty conscience of the narrator.The title refers to both the narrators heart as well as the beating of the old man's heart. The heart "tells tales" which is hidden inside, as, inside the heart is where one's deepest, truest feelings and emotions live. In the story, the old man's heart beating on the eighth night, when the narrator is inside his room, reveals that, something was not right in his room. His heart tells a tale of fear, and as the sound of his heart beat becomes louder, the narrator becomes anxious that the neighbours might hear it and gives him the push he needs to carry out his dastardly deed.
The next time the heart is telling the tale of guilt, as the narrator is hearing the beating of the heart , after the old man is dead .Since that isn't a possibility, the narrator's own hidden guilt over the deed is projected onto the dead man's heart, thus telling a tale of the narrator's guilty feelings.The guilt of killing an old man who had never wronged him is unknowingly making him confess his crime to the police officers, as he is unable to hide his inner guilty conscience. When one commits a crime, one cannot escape one's guilty conscience, no matter what the circumstances or one's state of mind is, especially when it is done to an innocent person.The whole story of the old man's murder can be looked at as a tale told by the narrator, a tale from his own heart. The heart is telling the tale of his crime- hence the title "A Tell-Tale Heart".
5.Give an account of the police investigation?
When the narrator finished concealment of the body of old man, it was four'o clock and there was knocking at the street door .The narrator went down to open it with a light heart and there entered three men who introduced themselves as police.They told the narrator that a shriek had been heard by a neighbour during the night and suspicion of foul play had been aroused. Information had been lodged at the police office and the officers had been deputed to search the premises.
The narrator smiled and welcomed the officers and took them all over the house and made them search well.He led them to old man's chamber and showed them his treasures which was secure and undisturbed.Then in the enthusiasm of his confidence he brought chairs into the room for the officers to take rest and placed his own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim.
The officers were satisfied, as his manners. were convincing to them.They sat there and chatted cheerily about common things whereas the narrator wished them gone.Then he started hearing a familiar ringing sound which kept on increasing and he was certain that he knows the source of noise, which he thought as the beating of the old man’s heart.The narrator paced the floor to and fro as if excited to fury by the observation of the policemen and he swung the chair upon which he was sitting and grated it upon the boards but the noise still increased.Still the officers were chatting and smiling which made the narrator feel that they might have heard the noise and were making mockery of his horror .That agony was intolerable for him as he could not bear their hypocritical smiles any longer .The narrator is admitting his deed and is asking them to tear up the planks
6.Describe the narrator's paranoiac behaviour during investigation
The narrator's confession to the police officers about the crime was a result of paranoia. When the officers came for investigation they were satisfied, as his manners. were convincing to them.They sat there and chatted cheerily about common things whereas the narrator wished them gone.Then he started hearing a familiar ringing sound which kept on increasing and he was certain that he knows the source of noise, which he thought as the beating of the old man’s heart.The narrator paced the floor to and fro as if excited to fury by the observation of the policemen and he swung the chair upon which he was sitting and grated it upon the boards but the noise still increased.Still the officers were chatting and smiling which made the narrator feel that they might have heard the noise and were making mockery of his horror. That agony was intolerable for him as he could not bear their hypocritical smiles any longer .The narrator is admitting his deed and is asking them to tear up the planks.He believed that the police officers knew his secret and were just “making a mockery of his horror. It was
the mockery of the officers that he couldn’t stand, the “hypocritical smiles” that he couldn’t bear any longer. In reality, the officers
probably thought they were having a simple conversation with a man who was, for some reason, getting all excited about whatever
the topic was. It was paranoia, caused by a mental illness, that pushed the narrator over the edge and caused him to confess.
7.Write a character sketch of the narrator.
The narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart” is unreliable ,paranoiac and insane. Rather than being concerned with his crimes or the consequences of his actions, the narrator is obsessed with proving his sanity. The narrator argues his sanity by pointing out
the wisdom and caution he used to commit the
crime. However, these overly meticulous actions ironically prove his insanity rather than his sanity. The narrator claims that he suffers from “nervousness” that causes an “over-acuteness of the senses.” This is the only explanation he gives for his motives and obsession with the old man’s eye.Again, he finds joy in the death of another person, a man that he said he loved and
that had never wronged him. His complete lack of remorse for his crime shows that his illness has caused him to be mentally
detached from the severity of his actions.
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