Time is Ticking Away: An Analysis of The Tell-Tale Heart
The Time is Ticking Away: An Analysis of “The Tell-Tale Heart”
People in society today are no different from those of previous generations in that they have always possessed basic principles of fear, paranoia, and anxiety that have carried on, and are clearly evident throughout history. In the 18th century, Edgar Allen Poe, a major author of the time based one of his more famous works on those basic principles of fear, paranoia, and anxiety. “The Tell-Tale Heart” takes a normal human being that anyone can relate to, and shows just how dark and corrupt the human mind can act under certain everyday circumstances. Poe reveals the process the human mind goes through when put under stress and the fear of being discovered, the reader is able to relate and put them self in the same position, Culminating with the narrator breaking down, afflicted by the basic principles, showing the reader just what the human mind is capable of doing. Poe starts his story with the narrator talking to himself, justifying that he’s not insane, and that the story he’s about to tell you is completely rational. Much like you and I, the narrator lives a normal life with all the issues of stress and annoyances present. One annoyance the narrator has to deal with is the eye of the old man he lives with; the eye bothers him so much and slowly eats away at him, until eventually it causes him to take action. The narrator finally can’t take it anymore and stands outside the old mans room door waiting for several days for the perfect time to strike in order to rid his mind of the odious eye. Poe paints an image in our heads as we read this example in the text that the narrator is very meticulous. In order to show this throughout the story, Poe uses several literary devices. Often within the story, Poe uses a grouping of small sentences that create a rhythm like that of a heartbeat. “Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me
People in society today are no different from those of previous generations in that they have always possessed basic principles of fear, paranoia, and anxiety that have carried on, and are clearly evident throughout history. In the 18th century, Edgar Allen Poe, a major author of the time based one of his more famous works on those basic principles of fear, paranoia, and anxiety. “The Tell-Tale Heart” takes a normal human being that anyone can relate to, and shows just how dark and corrupt the human mind can act under certain everyday circumstances. Poe reveals the process the human mind goes through when put under stress and the fear of being discovered, the reader is able to relate and put them self in the same position, Culminating with the narrator breaking down, afflicted by the basic principles, showing the reader just what the human mind is capable of doing. Poe starts his story with the narrator talking to himself, justifying that he’s not insane, and that the story he’s about to tell you is completely rational. Much like you and I, the narrator lives a normal life with all the issues of stress and annoyances present. One annoyance the narrator has to deal with is the eye of the old man he lives with; the eye bothers him so much and slowly eats away at him, until eventually it causes him to take action. The narrator finally can’t take it anymore and stands outside the old mans room door waiting for several days for the perfect time to strike in order to rid his mind of the odious eye. Poe paints an image in our heads as we read this example in the text that the narrator is very meticulous. In order to show this throughout the story, Poe uses several literary devices. Often within the story, Poe uses a grouping of small sentences that create a rhythm like that of a heartbeat. “Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me