In the excerpt from "The Tell-tale Heart", Edgar Allen Poe creates the conflicted character of an unnamed narrator through characterization. Using the components of actions, dialogue and thoughts, Poe unravels a story about a guilty conscience and reveals how guilt will always be there in the end because it's your conscience's way of getting you to do the right thing. The unnamed narrator murders a man and hides him under the floorboards. While the police are searching his house, he starts to feel guilty about what he has done. This indirect characterization can support the dark theme mentioned by Poe revealed through the narrator's actions.
The author illustrates the disturbed character of the unnamed narrator through his disingenuous actions. The scene begins with a ring of the doorbell. The story says, "I went down to open it with a light heart,-for what had I now to fear?", hinting to the reader that something is amiss. He opens the door and smiles to the police officers. He shows them around acting like he's not worried about anything, "I took my visitors all over the house." The narrator even brings chairs for the officers to sit …show more content…
When he opens the door, it turns out to be police inquiring about a scream heard by neighbors, he smiles and explains, "I bade the gentlemen welcome. The shriek, I said, was my own in a dream." Through this dialogue, the readers can tell the narrator is trying to convince them by putting on a show. Per the narrator's request, "I bade them search --search well.", they all chat, the narrator answers cheerily. In this dialogue, readers can infer the narrator is forcing his confidence to further convince. However, readers can also infer that he's not only trying to make the officers believe his confidence, but convince himself too. This important characterization contributes to the theme because he's doing a lot to try and cover up his
The author illustrates the disturbed character of the unnamed narrator through his disingenuous actions. The scene begins with a ring of the doorbell. The story says, "I went down to open it with a light heart,-for what had I now to fear?", hinting to the reader that something is amiss. He opens the door and smiles to the police officers. He shows them around acting like he's not worried about anything, "I took my visitors all over the house." The narrator even brings chairs for the officers to sit …show more content…
When he opens the door, it turns out to be police inquiring about a scream heard by neighbors, he smiles and explains, "I bade the gentlemen welcome. The shriek, I said, was my own in a dream." Through this dialogue, the readers can tell the narrator is trying to convince them by putting on a show. Per the narrator's request, "I bade them search --search well.", they all chat, the narrator answers cheerily. In this dialogue, readers can infer the narrator is forcing his confidence to further convince. However, readers can also infer that he's not only trying to make the officers believe his confidence, but convince himself too. This important characterization contributes to the theme because he's doing a lot to try and cover up his