Introduction to Narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart”
The anonymous narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart” written by Edgar Allen Poe is a bewitching character, who arrests the attention of his readers through his self-confessing monologue. He is engaged in the monologue in exposing his self of how he could not brook the old man merely because of his vulture like eye “with a film over it” (Poe 372). Although the narrator can impress upon the naïve audience, a sane mind can question the very reason of this heartless murder of the old man about whom the narrator asserts that he loves him. The narrator clarifies his position that except suffering from a minor disease of hearing, he does not have any ailment, and that it is only the idea that haunts him throughout the attempts he made to enter the old man’s room and kill him. With focus on the thinking of the narrator, Edgar Allen Poe beautifully exposes his mental illness in his story “The Tell-Tale Heart” though his language, stressing upon his obsession of murdering the old man and his acute hearing.
Narration in “The Tell-Tale Heart”
The narrator narrates his tale of killing the old man in cold blood in the first person. This shows that he is not a reliable person. The use of first person “I” at every other place stresses upon the fact that the narrator is perhaps egoistic or narcissist, but it has made his language very easy, direct and straightforward. Commenting on this aspect of the use of language by Poe in this story, Paul Witherington argues in his paper, “The Accomplice in ‘The Tell-Tale Heart'”, that “The story’s plainness and simplicity, in fact, seem the means by which the narrator’s madness is rendered transparent” (471). It is because the audience cannot judge a dumb fellow. They are able to understand a person or character through his language. In this connection, the narrator here speaks very easy, to-the-point and direct language comprising very short sentences, which reveal his mental illness. He himself is aware that he is suffering from a mental ailment, but then who can confess to be suffering from such an ailment. That is why he tells that his sense of hearing is sharp and acute, but he does not accept that he is mentally disturbed. He rather lets the readers to assess his language of confession that regarding his nervousness, but the readers cannot conclude that he is mad, because he can narrate the whole story of the murder in minute detail as he inquires then, “but why will you say that I am mad?” (372). He continues inquiring the same question from his readers after telling some details. The use of these rhetorical questions, overuse of comma, dashes and hyphens demonstrate that the person is mentally ill. However, this also points to the obsession of the narrator.
Eye in “The Tell-Tale Heart”
The narrator himself points it out in the very beginning that it is the eye, which is the object of his obsession, as he says, “He had the eye of a vulture”, adding “Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold” (372). In this connection, Hollie Prichard quotes Wilhelm Stekel that he “suffers from a fixed idea” adding that here “the eye becomes the narrator’s obsession” (qtd. 145). Exactly in the words of Wilhelm Stekel, the narrator confesses it saying, “It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain” and then he added, “it haunted me day and night” (Poe 372). The narrator gives several hints of this idea on which he has focused, saying, “I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work” (373). When finally, he finds it open, it makes him to direct the ray of the lantern, with which he used to enter his room, upon that eye. However, it is not the eye which motivates him to fall upon the old man in the end. It is rather the “over-acuteness of the sense” of his hearing (374).
Nervousness of Narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart”
The narrator states it in the very start that he is only nervous, and that his sense of hearing has become acute. He states that he could hear sounds from heaven and hell and every nook and corner around him. However, when he finds an idea of killing the old man for, it is not the idea that stimulates him to do the final task of suffocating the old man with the blanket, but it is the sound of his heart. The narrator admits is that he starts hearing the sound of the old’s man heart, which increases his anger, as “the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage” (375). This beating of his heart increases so much so that he decides to kill him, for it could be heard by the neighbors, thinks the narrator. Then he decides that the final moment of the old man has come and kills him. Even this is his hearing which makes him confess his crime before the policemen, who come to inspect the reason of a shriek heard by the neighborhood. They are satisfied, but he could not brook the beating of the old man’s heart, and finally confesses his crime before them.
Conclusion
In short, the monologue of this anonymous narrator is self-confessing. The first person account is as much unreliable as it is a reflection of the mental state of mind. By focusing on his thinking narrative, Poe has exposed his mental illness which he himself confesses but divulges the reader into accepting his own version of the story. Poe has further stressed upon his obsession with the idea of the eye of the old man, and his sharp hearing. Both contribute to motivating the narrator to kill the old man, but then the sharp hearing also contributes to his confession before the policemen. Therefore, the language, the obsession and the mental illness of the narrator is obvious in his self-confessing monologue in “The Tell-Tale Heart.”
Works Cited
- Poe, Edgar Allen. Poe’s Short Stories. London. Penguin. 2011. 373-377.
- Pritchard, Hollie. “Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart.” Explicator 61.3 (2003): 144-147. Humanities Source. Web. 20 May 2016.
- Witherington, Paul. “The Accomplice in ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’.” Studies in Short Fiction 22.4 (1985): 471. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 20 May 2016.
Relevant Questions about “The Tell-Tale Heart”
- How does the unreliable narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart” contribute to the story’s atmosphere of suspense and psychological horror, and what literary techniques does Edgar Allan Poe use to convey the narrator’s descent into madness?
- What insights into the narrator’s character and motives can be gleaned from the way they describe their obsession with the old man’s eye, and how does this obsession shed light on the theme of irrationality and obsession in the story?
- How does the first-person point of view in “The Tell-Tale Heart” affect the reader’s perception of the events and the reliability of the narrator’s account, and what role does the reader’s own interpretation play in the overall impact of the narrative?
