Analyzing The Character In Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart
What comes to mind when thinking about a main character? What usually comes to mind is the character’s transformation through a story is what really makes a special character. In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart” the main character goes through several changes.
When the author introduces the main character he makes it clear that there is something off about him. One example of this is in “I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth.” (Par. 1). This is something that is not just casually said by people normally; This immediately makes the main character seem abnormal. Then the main character goes on to question why people would accuse him of being mad. He says “The disease had sharpened my senses --not destroyed --not dulled them” (par. 1), and he goes on to brag about how carefully he was able to commit the murder. The main character …show more content…
then changes as the story continues.
The author then makes it known that the main character is completely insane. When the character is explaining the details of the murder, he does not give any reason why he did it. The main character was unsure of why he committed the murder only saying “I think it was his eye.” (Par. 2) This does not make any sense to a normal person, but in the main character’s mind it seems completely justified. Also, when describing how he committed the murder; he goes into great detail in explaining how thought out the plan was. It was almost as if he was bragging about it. This is shown in “You should have seen how wisely I proceeded.” (par. 3) When reaching the conclusion of the story the main character takes a complete turnaround in character.
During the conclusion of the story the main character changes his tone.
Instead of boasting about how well thought out the murder was, he instead explained how he became very nervous. This occurred when the police entered his home after a noise complaint; the main character began hearing the old man’s heart beat. A way the narrator shows this is in the line “Almighty God! --no, no! They heard! --they suspected! --they knew!” (par. 17). The heart beat could be interpreted as his conscious eating away at him. This is a major turn from how boastful he was originally. This shows that even though he is a little insane, he feels some sort of remorse for his actions.
“The Tell Tale Heart’s” main character goes through several changes during the story. Edgar Allen Poe was able to design the character to be completely insane, yet the character also feels remorse for his actions subconsciously. This shows us that the character is still a human being, and he is not so insane that he no longer feels regret. In the end, so much is learned about the character. Such as how his mind works and how calculated he makes his
decisions.
When the author introduces the main character he makes it clear that there is something off about him. One example of this is in “I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth.” (Par. 1). This is something that is not just casually said by people normally; This immediately makes the main character seem abnormal. Then the main character goes on to question why people would accuse him of being mad. He says “The disease had sharpened my senses --not destroyed --not dulled them” (par. 1), and he goes on to brag about how carefully he was able to commit the murder. The main character …show more content…
then changes as the story continues.
The author then makes it known that the main character is completely insane. When the character is explaining the details of the murder, he does not give any reason why he did it. The main character was unsure of why he committed the murder only saying “I think it was his eye.” (Par. 2) This does not make any sense to a normal person, but in the main character’s mind it seems completely justified. Also, when describing how he committed the murder; he goes into great detail in explaining how thought out the plan was. It was almost as if he was bragging about it. This is shown in “You should have seen how wisely I proceeded.” (par. 3) When reaching the conclusion of the story the main character takes a complete turnaround in character.
During the conclusion of the story the main character changes his tone.
Instead of boasting about how well thought out the murder was, he instead explained how he became very nervous. This occurred when the police entered his home after a noise complaint; the main character began hearing the old man’s heart beat. A way the narrator shows this is in the line “Almighty God! --no, no! They heard! --they suspected! --they knew!” (par. 17). The heart beat could be interpreted as his conscious eating away at him. This is a major turn from how boastful he was originally. This shows that even though he is a little insane, he feels some sort of remorse for his actions.
“The Tell Tale Heart’s” main character goes through several changes during the story. Edgar Allen Poe was able to design the character to be completely insane, yet the character also feels remorse for his actions subconsciously. This shows us that the character is still a human being, and he is not so insane that he no longer feels regret. In the end, so much is learned about the character. Such as how his mind works and how calculated he makes his
decisions.