Insane or Sane
Is He Truly Insane?
“The man denies that he is insane. He offers proof. Can you believe him?”
(Poe, 22) This is one of the most intriguing lines in the short story ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ written by Edgar Allan Poe. This quote defines the whole purpose of the short story in fewer than two sentences. The whole story is dedicated to proving that the narrator in the short story is actually, sane. Due to many pieces of evidence, one can have various opinions in debating whether the narrator is insane or sane. For instance, the narrator in the story watched the old man sleep for countless days, cut up the corps of the old man and placed in under the boards, and claimed he heard the heartbeat of the old man once he was dead. Therefore it is unmistakeable that the narrator in the short story ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ is in fact, insane.
In the short story ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ there is many pieces of evidence to prove that the narrator is insane. One piece of evidence can be that the narrator in the short story watched the old man sleep for countless days. At about midnight for seven nights the narrator watched the old man sleep, and during the period of time he did not move a muscle. The narrator would open the door, oh so gently, and placed the thin ray of the lantern above the eye of the old man, finding it closed every single time. This tells readers that the narrator was clever and acted cunningly before killing the old man. “And this I did for seven long nights - every night just at midnight – but I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye.”(Poe, 23) This quote tells readers that the narrator in the story did not have anything against the old man, but it was his eye that vexed him. This is an obvious example of how the narrator was insane. If the narrator had no problem with old man, why would he want to take his life? Although the narrator was clever enough to plan out his
“The man denies that he is insane. He offers proof. Can you believe him?”
(Poe, 22) This is one of the most intriguing lines in the short story ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ written by Edgar Allan Poe. This quote defines the whole purpose of the short story in fewer than two sentences. The whole story is dedicated to proving that the narrator in the short story is actually, sane. Due to many pieces of evidence, one can have various opinions in debating whether the narrator is insane or sane. For instance, the narrator in the story watched the old man sleep for countless days, cut up the corps of the old man and placed in under the boards, and claimed he heard the heartbeat of the old man once he was dead. Therefore it is unmistakeable that the narrator in the short story ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ is in fact, insane.
In the short story ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ there is many pieces of evidence to prove that the narrator is insane. One piece of evidence can be that the narrator in the short story watched the old man sleep for countless days. At about midnight for seven nights the narrator watched the old man sleep, and during the period of time he did not move a muscle. The narrator would open the door, oh so gently, and placed the thin ray of the lantern above the eye of the old man, finding it closed every single time. This tells readers that the narrator was clever and acted cunningly before killing the old man. “And this I did for seven long nights - every night just at midnight – but I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye.”(Poe, 23) This quote tells readers that the narrator in the story did not have anything against the old man, but it was his eye that vexed him. This is an obvious example of how the narrator was insane. If the narrator had no problem with old man, why would he want to take his life? Although the narrator was clever enough to plan out his