“Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence.” These are the words of one author, Edgar Allan Poe. Known for his hair-raising tales, he has been considered an unusual man for many years. In one of his eerie stories, The Tell-Tale Heart, there have been many arguments over if the narrator is sane or psychotic. There are many arguments for both sides of the debate, but one particular quote stands out. “Hearken! And observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story.” While retelling the story, the narrator seems to be free of any guilt and seems proud of his work. If he wasn’t in control of his actions when he murdered the old man, why would he have been
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He tells us, “There was nothing to wash out - no stain of any kind - no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary for this.” After seven nights of planning the crime, he took, even more, precaution to hide the body in such a way, that even the cops would not be able to find the old man. If he was simply insane, he wouldn’t have spent so long devising a plan. He would’ve rushed into it. Finally, he seems just as calm later on in the story. When the police came to the man’s house after getting alerted of a shriek by the neighbors, he told them, “The shriek, I said, was my own in a dream. The old man, I mentioned, was absent in the country. I took my visitors all over the house. I bade them search - search well. I led them, at length, to his chamber. I showed them his treasures, secure, undisturbed.” Despite the officers being in the home, sent to make sure everything was alright, he still seemed calmer than ever and let them search the house. Again ,he was proud of his work, but if he wasn’t sensible, then why would he be proud? So is the narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart Insane? There are many arguments about this, however, there is no clear answer. Will we ever discover the answer? Maybe it will never be found, becoming a secret lost in
He tells us, “There was nothing to wash out - no stain of any kind - no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary for this.” After seven nights of planning the crime, he took, even more, precaution to hide the body in such a way, that even the cops would not be able to find the old man. If he was simply insane, he wouldn’t have spent so long devising a plan. He would’ve rushed into it. Finally, he seems just as calm later on in the story. When the police came to the man’s house after getting alerted of a shriek by the neighbors, he told them, “The shriek, I said, was my own in a dream. The old man, I mentioned, was absent in the country. I took my visitors all over the house. I bade them search - search well. I led them, at length, to his chamber. I showed them his treasures, secure, undisturbed.” Despite the officers being in the home, sent to make sure everything was alright, he still seemed calmer than ever and let them search the house. Again ,he was proud of his work, but if he wasn’t sensible, then why would he be proud? So is the narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart Insane? There are many arguments about this, however, there is no clear answer. Will we ever discover the answer? Maybe it will never be found, becoming a secret lost in