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Point of View in The Tell Tale Heart Essay

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From what point of view is the story The Tell Tale Heart told, and why is it particularly effective for this extremely concise short story?

"The Tell-Tale Heart" is told from the perspective of an unnamed narrator who claims to be sane, but admits to having a disease that has sharpened his senses. (7) From the beginning the reader can sense that the narrator is crazy thus an unreliable storyteller and as the story progresses he falls deeper into lunacy making him more unreliable. He repeatedly tries to convince the reader he is not mad, though his actions prove otherwise. He is obsessed with defending his sanity not his innocence as he embarks on the tale that freely admits to committing cold blooded murder.

The narrator lives with an old man whose blue, vulture-like clouded eye haunts him so much that he felt murdering the old man was his only option. He recalls in almost slow motion, calm detail his movements for the week before the murder, leading to the death of the old man and event after. In this essay we will look at the relationship between the criminal and the victim from the storytellers point of view as this is the only source the reader is presented with, and discusses how effective the first person narrative form is, in drawing the reader further into the story.

Although we are not told what the relationship between the old man and the narrator, he tells us that he loved him I loved the old man.He has never wronged me(7) It was the eye not the old man that he wanted rid of as he became so obsessed with it. He separates the vulture eye from the old man deliberately or through insanity. As the story progressed we can feel how both characters are intertwined almost as one, as similar sensory details connect the two. Subsequently as the narrators grip on reality grows weaker after the death of the old man we see a shift in his obsession for the vulture eye to that of the beating heart, thus again connecting the two characters, though the narrator through madness doesnt realise this thus pressed to justify the murder he settles on his fear of the old mans eye as a reason. As a first person narrative we are only privy to the selected information given and the narrator would like to convince the reader of how logically sane his motive was, yet , he cant help but brag about it: I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him.(7) Thus, while the narrator is obviously unbalanced, he is also intelligent and commits pre-meditated murder.

The tone of the narrator forces the reader into the mind of the madman as his overstrained senses keep the audiences attention alert and the tension and terror can be physically felt. As he describes the week leading up to the crime we are provided with a slow-motion account of how methodically, calmly and with heightened senses he carried out his plan,(Robinson.371) this is particularly effective in further drawing the reader in, almost holding our own breaths as we participate in the tension. I moved it slowly, very, very slowly (7) Likewise his strained attention to his senses intensifies the slow motion effect thus keeping the reader alert.

Despite the fact that the narrator attempts to present himself to the reader as cool and collected, this becomes less and less believable as the story wears on, reinforcing how unreliable his tale is. On the eight night with a sense of grandiosity Never before that night had I felt the extent of my own powers, (7) the the narrator relates how the sound shutter wakes the old man.The reader is made to identify with the victim and the terror he is experiencing as the narrator also relates to this fear and almost with a sense of euphoria puts himself in the old mans place virtually sharing the same emotional state. Nonetheless there is no sympathy from the madman. All in vain, (8)

Just prior to killing the man the narrator begins to think he hears the beating of the old mans heart, (Robinson 374) The narrator has admitted to us that he suffers from over-acuteness of the senses, hence when he begins to think he hears the beating of the old mans heart it can easily be assumed that he has mistaken the beating of his own heart for that of the old man. I knew that sound well too(8)As the story is told from the criminals point of view and he gets into a more agitated state he further draws the reader in to the scene until in a frenzy he kills his victim. It was the beating of the heart that fuelled him without guilt to ambush and kills his victim.

Although proud and smug of how he concealed the body and denial of any fear when the police arrive I smiledfor what had I to fear? (8)the rapid beating of his heart when the officers are in the room shows his unease returning and building up to a frenzied state, He believes it is the sound of the dead mans heart beating beneath the floorboards. The policemen dont seem to notice, but the narrator feels sure they are simply pretending not to hear it. He then angrily confesses that he murdered the old man, thus finally confirming what the reader has known almost from the beginning, he refuses to recognize it as his own.

This Gothic genre told from the perspective of an insane narrator draws the reader into the story and into the mind of the criminal himself, as he relates his obsession with the old mans eye an obsession which leads the narrator to committing cold blooded murder. From the opening sentence the narrator seizes our attention and continues throughout to hold our attention. While the narrator is mad, it is his humanity that comes out as the use of first person narrative personalises the readers relationship with him, although he fails in convincing us of his sanity, the sole intent of recounting his story.

Bibliography

Robinson, E.Arthur. Poe's"The Tell Tale Heart". Nineenth Centruary Fiction (Mar 1965): pp369-378.

Sheehan, Clair. Introduction to Literature Module 1. Limerick: Clair Sheehan, Sept 2011. 21.pp7-8

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