The Tell Tale Heart Insanity

The narrator of the short story, “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, is seen by the reader to be insane. This is assumed throughout the story and even at the very beginning due to the narrators over-use of persuasion towards the reader that he is not mad. The narrator is seen as being crazy or, more and more insane, as the story continues on. Evidence of this madness is shown in many different situations, and also is shown through the narrator’s thoughts during certain parts of the story. The narrator claims later in the story that there are reasons behind the actions that he decides to take. These actions and the reasons that the narrator gives to back up the actions that have taken place make it seem like the narrator’s insanity is …show more content…
A strong example of an act seen as insane is the apparent stalking of the old man for a week straight. The narrator claims to have checked the old man’s room every night for seven days straight peeking his head in ever so slowly to not be noticed. The narrator commits the act on the last night checking upon the old man thus taking an entire week to actually commit the act of murder killing the old man, but interestingly enough, the narrator approaches the normal routine of going in the room in a completely different way than before. On the last night, the narrator is much more careful the narrator himself brags on how careful saying, “When I had made an opening sufficient for my head...I thrust in my head. Oh you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly -- very, very slowly”. The narrator then commits the murder of the old man and hides the body underneath the floor. The reason given for the murder is the old man’s “vulture eye” as it’s called by the …show more content…
When the narrator is checking upon the old man at night it seems very creepy and like something a person that is mad would do, though it does seem insane to the reader, this is actually very smart thinking. The narrator is very cautious checking upon the old man, he goes in every night for a week to study the old man and his “vulture eye”. After going to the old man’s bedroom, the narrator then decides to kill the old man on the last night. The murder itself seems very well put together like the narrator was slowly forming a plan for this in his head as the seven nights went on. Insanity is the state of being mad or mentally ill, but the narrator seems sound in mind, plotting the action together piece by piece. The narrator is also still seen to be mad by the reader because of killing the old man and hiding his chopped up body underneath the floor, but there is a sense of guilt that comes over the