The Tell-Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe

Even the most perfect of crimes aren’t safe from the emotion within a man. In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, exactly this is illustrated. The narrator of this writing piece is disturbed by an old man’s vulture-like eye. The man had never wronged him, and in fact, the narrator loved the old man. However, the narrator becomes determined to get rid of the old man’s “Evil Eye,” and along with that, his life. He meticulously plans to commit the perfect crime, and succeeds by smothering the man with a mattress and by storing his body parts under wooden planks. However, in the end, the narrator is overwhelmed by guilt and anxiety while sitting with police who were fed some convincing lies. He imagined that his own heartbeat
The sheer amount of caution he had while preparing was extraordinary. “You should have seen how wisely I proceeded - with what caution - with what foresight, with what dissimulation, I went to work” (3). So, as you can see, the narrator is no ordinary criminal who acts impulsively without any previous planning. He definitely wanted to commit the perfect crime, and thus, had to act professional. In addition, “I undid the lantern cautiously - oh, so cautiously - cautiously (for the hinges creaked), I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye” (3). This scene particularly shows how precise, coordinated, calm, and skilled the narrator really is. He uses the exact amount of movement needed to make the light only fall onto the old man’s vulture eye. Through the first parts of the story, the narrator most definitely demonstrates profession and
He definitely had planned his escape from conviction, as he knew exactly how to deter the police from suspicion. “I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human eye - not even his - could have detected anything wrong” (13). This part is significant because it shows the narrator covering up his crime and attempting to prove himself not guilty. He seemed very determined in his technique by narrating that no human eye could have detected any flaw in the floorboards. To add onto that, when the police officers had arrived at the old man’s house to investigate, “In the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room and desired them here to rest from their fatigues, while I myself, in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim.” From this, the reader learns how confident the narrator was to become acquitted. He seemed to have absolutely no doubt about getting away. Through the middle of the story, the narrator most definitely reveals his confidence and determination in becoming legally