Theme Of The Tell Tale Heart - 782 Words

The Symbols of Guilt â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† In â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart,† the poet, Edgar Allan Poe, writes of several different themes. Some of them include time and human nature. However, the most prevalent themes remain as the themes of guilt and insanity. The poem revolves around a man that lives with an old man that has an eye that the narrator fears. He calls it the vulture eye. He believes that it is evil, so he plans to murder the old man. Edgar Allan Poe expresses the themes of insanity and guilt by using the symbols of the beating heart, the vulture eye, and the lantern throughout the poem. In the poem, the beating heart represents the narrator’s extreme guilt and remorse for the murdering of the old man. After the narrator murders†¦show more content†¦In the poem, the lantern represents the narrator’s defense against the old man and his evil eye, yet it proves that he has a mental incapability to see the insane murderer that he is. Because the narrator is in complete control of where the light shines, he feels more confident in himself and his plans of murdering the old man. The lantern also shows how he is not able to recognize that he is a mad man because the lantern only shows life as he wants to view it. The lantern expresses the narrator’s lack of insight and helps him to go through with the old man’s murder because he only sees the evil eye when he sees the old man. Throughout â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†, Edgar Allan Poe, tries to convey the central themes of guilt and insanity to the audience. How the narrator tells the story proves the theory completely. He tells his audience how he plans to kill the old man, and he takes them with him every step of the way. While telling the readers how he murders the man, he also assures them that he is not mad or insane. However, the readers know that he is crazy because he kills a harmless old man, that he claims to love, solely because he fears his eyeball. He is trying to convince himself of this, as well as, trying to convince his audience. Though he proves to have a mental incapability, he still shows signs of morality and guilt. The beating heart demonstrates this human quality that he obtains. When the narrator uses the lantern in his plan, he shows signs ofShow MoreRelatedTheme Of Guilt In The Tell Tale Heart975 Words   |  4 Pagesso great that it not only brings that horrible feeling of th at what has been done is wrong, but also brings physical anguish to the person who has it. Such is the case with Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter, and Edgar Allen Poe in â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart,† Hawthorne uses excruciating diction while Poe uses frantic diction, and Poe uses sporadic and stagnant syntax while Hawthorne uses enduring syntax, to contemplate both of characters guilt. Primarily, Hawthorne uses a use a diction in whichRead MoreTheme Of Grotesque In The Tell Tale Heart987 Words   |  4 Pages With such a copious amount of connections it is not difficult to imagine that some if not most Gothic characters act as though they are mad. In â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† by Edgar Allan Poe Gothic elements are used to convey the madness of the narrator to the reader. The grotesque and an unreliable narrator appear which shows that â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† can be considered within the Gothic genre. First of all, the narrators use of grotesque descriptions shows how truly mad he is. His infatuation withRead MoreAnalysis of Themes in the Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe543 Words   |  2 PagesThere are themes in every piece of fictional literature ever written. A theme is the central idea of a story that is fictional. A theme can be everything from good verse evil to as simple as light and darkness. In any story there may be more than one theme in it. Some stories have numerous central ideas that can be seen in the one. Most people only focus on one while there may be five that are important to understand to understand the story. The Tell-Tale Heart like some has numerous themes that areRead MoreThe Tell Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe879 Words   |  4 PagesIn between guilt, paranoia and obsession The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe uses several literary elements to support the themes of the story. The story is based on a gruesome murder of an old man. The author uses ma dness, obsession and guilt as themes to prove how the narrator is truly twisted and insane. Madness is the first theme of the story; in the beginning the narrator tries to convince the audience he is not mad (insane). â€Å"TRUE!... nervous very, very nervous I had been and am; but whyRead MoreThe Tell Tale Heart And The Premature Burial915 Words   |  4 PagesThe Tell-Tale Heart and The Premature Burial are two short stories by Edgar Allan Poe. The Tell-Tale Heart is about the narrator killing an old man. The Premature Burial is about a mans fear of being buried alive. The theme of the two works are closely related to fear and guilt. Poe’s stories have terrifying plots, solid themes and literary criticism. The Tell-Tale heart starts as An unknown narrator says he is nervous but not mad. Then he informs the reader that he will be telling a story aboutRead MoreThe Gothic Theme of Edgar Allen Poes Work1357 Words   |  6 Pagesgenre within Poe’s work such as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat, and The Raven, arouse the pervasive nature of the dark side of individualism and the resulting encroachment of insanity. Gothic tales are dominated by fear and terror and explore the themes of death and decay. The Gothic crosses boundaries into the realm of the unknown, arousing extremes of emotion through the catalyst of disassociation and subversion of presence. Gothic literature utilises themes of the supernatural to create a broodingRead MoreThe Tell Tale Heart And The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow1690 Words   |  7 PagesThe Themes â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† and â€Å"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow† One of Washington Irving’s short and most famous stories ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ has become a ghoulish characteristic yet an individual might still be unaccustomed with its idiocy (Hoffman, 425). Based on the real legend of Ichabod Crane, the story reveals how he disappeared. For that reason, the story revolves around the themes of wealth, appearances, truth, warfare, supernatural, gluttony and greed. On the other hand, TheRead MoreThe Tell Tale Heart By Edgar Allen Poe934 Words   |  4 Pagesmadman (39). In Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†, the themes are vital for readers to identify with the madman’s reasoning of every single action he executes. Such events as in the first sentence would be difficult, if not impossible, to grasp without the knowledge of any themes. While some individuals may feel that themes are merely add-on elements in similar tales, this analysis will establish quite the contrary. T he themes are crucial to the comprehension of this narrativeRead MoreRebecca- Tell Tale Heart Comparative Essay842 Words   |  4 PagesRebecca and the Tell Tale Heart Comparative Essay Alfred Hitchcock successfully incorporates Gothic conventions within the film Rebecca, based on Daphne De Maurier’s novel written in 1938.Likewise, Edgar Allan Poe’s ability to incorporate Gothic themes within his short story ‘The Tell Tale Heart’, published in 1843, has been a success. Although both their abilities to create Gothic Compositions has been successful, their techniques used to incorporate Gothic conventions within them are both similarRead MoreEdgar Allan Poe s The Tell Tale Heart1538 Words   |  7 PagesPotentially Mad, Potentially Genius: Edgar Allan Poe’s Style â€Å"True!—nervous—very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?† Poe wrote this line in his â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart,† and he very well could have been speaking about himself. Many generations have debated on whether or not Edgar Allen Poe was a mad. Reviewers and readers have looked at Poe’s work for nearly two centuries, trying to pick it apart and see if it’s the ramblings of a mad man or well pieced