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The Tell Tale Heart

Author: Edgar Allan Poe

Release Date: January 1843

Rating: 5/5

Summary (From Amazon):

 

"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe first published in 1843. It is told by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of his sanity, while describing a murder he committed. (The victim was an old man with a filmy "vulture eye", as the narrator calls it.) The murder is carefully calculated, and the murderer hides the body by dismembering it and hiding it under the floorboards. Ultimately the narrator's guilt manifests itself in the form of the sound — possibly hallucinatory — of the old man's heart still beating under the floorboards. It is unclear what relationship, if any, the old man and his murderer share. The narrator denies having any feelings of hatred or resentment for the man. He states: 'I loved the old man! He had never wronged me! He had never given me insult!'. He also denies the assumption that he killed for greed: 'Object there was none.', 'For his gold I had no desire.' It has been suggested that the old man is a father figure, the narrator's landlord, or that the narrator works for the old man as a servant, and that perhaps his "vulture eye" represents some sort of veiled secret, or power. The ambiguity and lack of details about the two main characters stand in stark contrast to the specific plot details leading up to the murder.

Reasons for rating:

 

     I rated this book with five eyes because of the writer’s amazing writing and creativity. I admire the way he developed the story from the ending to the beginning and the way he left you with many doubts: Who is he telling this to? The officer? A psychiatrist? Where is he telling the story?. The writing also shows the narrator’s desperation to prove that he’s not insane: “How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily --how calmly I can tell you the whole story”. This REALLY made me want to keep reading because I wanted to know how the main character tries to prove that he’s not insane. 

 

     While reading the story, I could really see the dramatic irony: “You should have seen how wisely I proceeded --with what caution --with what foresight --with what dissimulation I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him”. The audience knows that he’s mentally ill, but the narrator assures he’s fine. The symbolism was also obvious. The eye of the old man definitely meant something dark and mysterious to him, that’s why he decided to him. That was undoubtedly something a mentally sane person would do, right?

 

Biography of Edgar Allan Poe:

 

     Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. He lost both of his parents, who were professional actors, at the age of 3. Edgar was then raised as a foster child by John and Frances Allan. John was a tabaco exporter, so he was able to afford the best boarding school for Edgar, sadly, he had to drop out because of his family’s gambling depts. At this time, he began selling short stories. 

 

     In 1835, he moved with his cousin and aunt, where he became the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond. By that time he also married Virginia, who was only fourteen years old. Shortly after working in several other literary journals, he established as a poe and short story writer. He then returned to Richmond in 1849 and had an unknown stop in Baltimore, where he was found semi- conscious. Sadly, he died three days later from an acute contestation of the brain.

Resources:

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"Robot Check." Robot Check. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2016.

<https://www.amazon.com/Tell-Tale-Heart-Edgar-Allan-Poe/dp/1494312700>

 

 

Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2016.

< https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/edgar-allan-poe>

 

 

"The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe." The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2016.

< http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/poe/telltale.html>

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