The Tell Tale Heart Sane Analysis

If a person's sanity is in question, don't you think you should look through all the facts and interpret them carefully and accurately? Edgar Allen Poe wrote, "The Tell-Tale Heart", a short story told in the first person by the self-confessed murderer of an old man. The narrator is clearly sane. However, many other readers of the story believe that the narrator of “The Tell-Heart” is insane. The Narrator knew what he was doing was wrong. While this admittedly seems plausible, the narrator of the tell-tale heart is sane because he does not have the characteristics it takes to be legally insane. Some of these characteristics are that he doesn't know what he's doing is wrong, that he unaware of surroundings, that his actions have illogical reasons or not reasons at all, that he is confused about daily life, that his emotions are above and beyond what is normally expected for a given situation, that he is unable to resist impulses. The Tell-Tale heart narrator is very sane. …show more content…
He does not have any of the traits that are required to be legally insane. There is information that proves that he is sane. He knows what he's doing is wrong, and is also aware of surroundings, his actions have logical reasons, he understands daily life, his emotions are appropriate for a given situation, and he is able to resist impulses. After he almost got away with the old man's murder, he confessed to the police because he was too guilty to resist. The Narrator said, "'Villains!' I shrieked, 'dissemble no more! I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! here, here! --It is the beating of his hideous heart!'" (the narrator). This information shows that the narrator can't be insane because the narrator knew that what he was doing was wrong, otherwise he would not have been guilty enough to confess to the police when he would otherwise have gotten away with the