The Indirect Characterization In The Tell-Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe

In the excerpt “from The Tell-tale Heart,” Edgar Allan Poe, creates the clever and sneaky character of an unnamed narrator through indirect characterization. Using the components of gestures, and internal thoughts, Poe illustrates a story about the paranoia of this character and reveals that people aren’t always what you see on the surface. An example of this character making a clever gesture is him opening the door with a “light heart,- for what had I now to fear?” Poe uses a question mark at the end of this statement to show the narrator may actually have something to fear. When Poe writes “ I smiled, - for what had I to fear?” he repeats this statement to intensify the guilt the character feels. When the narrator mentions the police as