One symbol that is hidden in “The Tell Tale Heart” is the death watch beetles. In the beginning when the insane man attempted to murder the old man lying in the bed, the old man was startled by a small movement and noise in the darkness of his bedroom. Therefore the insane man had to stay still until he returned to sleep. While he was against the wall waiting he heard death watch beetles clicking in the walls. Some people believe that when death watch beetles start to click around you, that they’re counting how many more seconds you’re going to live. Death watch beetles in the wall represent foreshadowing the old man’s death because later in the story the insane man will kill him.
Another symbol in the story is the dark lantern. The insane man would creep into the old man’s bedroom every day and used the dark lantern to see if the old man’s vulture eye is open. Thus the dark lantern represents bad events that are going to occur, because when the insane man used the lantern which was the beginning of the attempt to kill the old man.
Yet another symbol is the old man’s vulture eye. The insane man felt that the old that the old man’s vulture eye would always stare upon him. Therefore the insane man’s mission was to destroy the old man’s eye. Hence, the vulture’s eye represents death.
An additional symbol is the old man’s heart beat. After the insane man successfully killed the old man he hid his body under the floor boards. However, when the insane man was on the urge to killing the old man he fortunately shrieked so loud that the neighbors heard; then they called the police. Later on the officers rang the doorbell and they checked around his house for anything unusual. Suddenly the insane man heard a loud heart beat inside his mind. It wasn’t his hear beat, it wasn’t the officers, it was the old man’s heart beat who he killed. When the man heard the heartbeat, he first ignored it but then he couldn’t stand it anymore so he