The theme in Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell Tale Heart relates to the growing madness and guilt in the narrator as the story unveils with a descriptive plot, setting, and the emotions of the speaker. Internal conflict plays a big part in the story and theme. As the narrator lets his thoughts overcome him, he does something he wouldn’t have if he were thinking clearly. The main lesson taught in this story is not to let your thoughts overpower your actions, and to think things through before you act. In this passage the speaker is very unreliable and creates a questionable tone. Poe, in the first person point of view story, describes each and every action the narrator takes.
One day, the narrator notices that the old man he is a caretaker for has a vulture-like eye. The narrator explains, "It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night....I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever"(Poe). His goal is to kill the old man, who has done nothing wrong to him, to get rid of his …show more content…
In the end of the The Tell Tale Heart, the guilt from killing the old man gives the narrator symptoms of mayhem. The neighbors had heard a shriek and called the police, "But, ere long, I felt myself getting pale and wished them gone. My head ached, and I fancied a ringing in my ears: but still they sat and still chatted"(Poe). The heartbeat ringing in the narrator's ears drives him more insane than before and eventually he confessed to the crime, “‘Villains!’ I shrieked, ‘dissemble no more! I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! here, here! --It is the beating of his hideous heart!’"(Poe). The resolution is expected after how in detail the narrator described his madness and his every move. The chosen resolution gives the theme a lesson, which is common in fiction stories and
One day, the narrator notices that the old man he is a caretaker for has a vulture-like eye. The narrator explains, "It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night....I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever"(Poe). His goal is to kill the old man, who has done nothing wrong to him, to get rid of his …show more content…
In the end of the The Tell Tale Heart, the guilt from killing the old man gives the narrator symptoms of mayhem. The neighbors had heard a shriek and called the police, "But, ere long, I felt myself getting pale and wished them gone. My head ached, and I fancied a ringing in my ears: but still they sat and still chatted"(Poe). The heartbeat ringing in the narrator's ears drives him more insane than before and eventually he confessed to the crime, “‘Villains!’ I shrieked, ‘dissemble no more! I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! here, here! --It is the beating of his hideous heart!’"(Poe). The resolution is expected after how in detail the narrator described his madness and his every move. The chosen resolution gives the theme a lesson, which is common in fiction stories and