Edgar Allan Poe is known for his mysterious and suspenseful short stories. His stories have an air of madness and his character development is impeccable. In the story A Tell-Tale Heart, Poe proves himself even more with his excellent character development to the unnamed narrator. He writes about the narrator who believes himself not to be mad, but is motivated to kill a man because the man's eye scares him. This essay will discuss the character development of the narrator, and how he copes with madness.
In the first paragraph of A Tell-Tale Heart, the reader can already tell that the narrator is not completely mentally stable. The narrator starts the story by saying, "True! Nervous--very very dreadfully nervous I had been and am! But why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses--not destroyed--not dulled them,". From these first lines, it is possible to feel a tone of hysteria. The narrator claims not to be mad, and simply extremely nervous. He (the narrator) calls nervousness a disease. He says the …show more content…
He says, "And now--have I not told you what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the senses?--now, I say, there came to my ear a low, dull, quick sound such as a watch makes enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound too well. It was the beating of the old man's heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates a soldier into courage.". Here it is possible to debate whether or not the narrator is crazy or simply extremely careful and cunning. The narrator says he hears the beating of the old man's heart which infuriates him. It would infuriate him because as mentioned before, earlier in the text, the narrator says he is nervous, not mad. The beating of the old man's heart would make the narrator even more nervous, which would motivate m even more to kill the man, so that he would never have to hear the nervous beating of the old man's heart
In the first paragraph of A Tell-Tale Heart, the reader can already tell that the narrator is not completely mentally stable. The narrator starts the story by saying, "True! Nervous--very very dreadfully nervous I had been and am! But why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses--not destroyed--not dulled them,". From these first lines, it is possible to feel a tone of hysteria. The narrator claims not to be mad, and simply extremely nervous. He (the narrator) calls nervousness a disease. He says the …show more content…
He says, "And now--have I not told you what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the senses?--now, I say, there came to my ear a low, dull, quick sound such as a watch makes enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound too well. It was the beating of the old man's heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates a soldier into courage.". Here it is possible to debate whether or not the narrator is crazy or simply extremely careful and cunning. The narrator says he hears the beating of the old man's heart which infuriates him. It would infuriate him because as mentioned before, earlier in the text, the narrator says he is nervous, not mad. The beating of the old man's heart would make the narrator even more nervous, which would motivate m even more to kill the man, so that he would never have to hear the nervous beating of the old man's heart