Poes Heart Essay - 1456 Words

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most recognized prose poets, short story authors, and literary composers of all time. His works contain trending themes such as love, time, death and the concept of â€Å"oneness.† Poe often expressed these themes according to events that he had experienced, and some of his themes intertwined with others. Take for instance, his love for beauty and perfection played a major role in his concept of oneness, or state of absolute fulfillment. However in his short story, The Tell-Tale Heart, Poe effectively explores the power of guilt, and leads his readers through a cynical plot to murder while enduring the struggle to silence a beating conscience by treading the lines of genius versus insanity, moral reasoning versus†¦show more content†¦So while his ideas of truth and fiction â€Å"mingled† with one another to be exposed on paper, his inability to carefully distinguish the two is what added timelessness to The Tell-Tale Heart. Debatin g and deciphering the difference between an absolute intellect and an absolute sociopath is one investigation that never grows old. Poe’s writing not only treads the line of genius and insanity, but he balances the two in a way that leaves each reader with the opportunity to form his/her own conclusion of the narrator. Now, this story also blurs the line between moral reason and indifferent resolution. In the opening excerpts of the story, the narrator explains that he indeed loved the old man. The old man â€Å"never wronged nor insulted him.† But the feeling that he felt towards the old man’s eye was something so overwhelming, it shadowed any moral reasoning he could ever imagine. He explains that his blood ran cold whenever he looked at it. So this caused him to compute an indifferent resolution: kill the old man, and he’d no longer have to witness the chilling eye. He still remained kind to the old man after resolving to kill him. Although it seems that he would behave this way based on his moral reason, the idea actually stemmed from his indifferent resolution. He wanted to make sure the old man had no idea of his sinister plot, so he treated him well before executing his demise. OftenShow MoreRelatedEdgar Allan Poes The Tell Tale Heart1203 Words   |  5 PagesA Tell-Tal e Spirit In 1843, author Edgar Allan Poe crafted a haunting story about a man who commits murder because he finds an old mans’ pale eye unsettling. This story, â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†, is one of many masterfully written stories crafted by the gifted writer. Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19th, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts but was orphaned at the young age of three. His foster parents surrounded him with material comfort in the city of Richmond, Virginia. As a youth, Poe excelledRead MoreSymbolism In Edgar Allen Poes The Tell Tale Heart1174 Words   |  5 Pagesdoes it make it more or less important? Symbolism is used to represent ideas; that may imply deeper, hidden meaning than what the text directly states. Symbolism can be used in different ways throughout different books; for example, â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†, by Edgar Allen Poe and â€Å"Once upon a Time†, by Nadine Gordimer, contain a variety of symbolism that have the possibility of hav ing two or more meanings. The problem with this is identifying what the text could really mean, and how that changes theRead MoreThe Murderers Motivation Depicted in Poes The Tell-Tale Heart1820 Words   |  8 PagesPoes writings are not without morals, and as a representation of a guilty conscience, â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† has been called one of the most effective parables ever conceived (Ward 310). â€Å"I find it almost impossible to believe that Poe has no serious or artistic motive in The Tell-Tale Heart, that he merely revels in horror and only inadvertently illuminates the depths of the human soul,† James Gargano asserts. He further states that though Poes stories sometimes seem to be nothing more than ramblingsRead More Critical Analysis of Poes The Tell Tale Heart Essay examples1635 Words   |  7 PagesCritical Analysis of Poes The Tell Tale Heart The Tell Tale Heart is a story, on the most basic level, of conflict. There is a mental conflict within the narrator himself (assuming the narrator is male). Through obvious clues and statements, Poe alerts the reader to the mental state of the narrator, which is insanity. The insanity is described as an obsession (with the old mans eye), which in turn leads to loss of control and eventually results in violence. Ultimately, the narrator tellsRead MoreSymbolism in Edgar Allen Poes The Tell-Tale Heart Essay863 Words   |  4 PagesSymbolism in Edgar Allen Poes The Tell-Tale Heart In Poes The Tell-Tale Heart, the narrator claims that he is not mad but his behavior tells a different story. He is truly determined to destroy another male human being, not because of jealousy or animosity but because one of his eyes resembled that of a vulture- a pale blue eye, with a film over it (1206). The narrator sees the man with this ghastly eye as a threat to his well being, but it is he who is a menace to his own being. HeRead MoreA Reader- Oriented Approach to Edgar Alan Poes the Tell- Tale Heart1465 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?† A Reader- Oriented approach to Edgar Alan Poe’s The Tell- Tale Heart The Titular question is an old philosophical riddle for which a wide range of metaphysical and non-metaphysical solution has been offered. The answers differ based on the perspective of the interpreter. Judging these answers is neither possible nor desirable for us, but the riddle and the ensuing debates attest to the veracity of one of the mostRead More Edgar Allen Poes The Tell Tale Heart Essay499 Words   |  2 PagesIn The Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allen Poe, the setting, the plot, the characters and even the point of view are great contributing factors to the overall reaction of the readers of the narrative. The setting contributes to the readers reaction in several different ways. All of the shutters in the house were closed, no one could see anything from the outside or the inside. This was important because no one ever knew what went on in the house except the old man with the pale blue eye with a filmRead MoreEssay on Creating Suspense in Edgar Allen Poes The Tell-Tale Heart2319 Words   |  10 PagesCreating Suspense in Edgar Allen Poes The Tell-Tale Heart In the gothic genre there are numerous techniques the author can use to add interest and suspense to a story, such as the choice of words, the time of day and pathetic fallacy, to name but a few. In the Tell Tale- Heart Poe uses psychosis, detail, and appeal to the reader to keep us on the edge of our seats. These are just some examples of what makes the story so thrilling. The story is written in the first person in the styleRead More Comparing Edgar Allen Poes The Cask of Amontillado, The Black Cat, and The Tell-tale Heart752 Words   |  4 PagesComparing Edgar Allen Poes The Cask of Amontillado, The Black Cat, and The Tell-tale Heart The short stories of Edgar Allen Poe demonstrate the authors ample gifts in the psychology of the mind, regardless of the fact he was decades ahead of Freud.   Poes short stories are often from the deranged and murderous point-of-view of the narrator, who often illustrates the inner-workings of his own psychology and the disintegration of the self brought about by psychological disorders, aberrationsRead MoreFreudian Analysis of Edgar Allen Poes a Tell Tale Heart Essay665 Words   |  3 PagesErika Barnett Professor Curley Daring the Nightmare 13 October 2010 A Freudian Analysis of â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† By Edgar Allen Poe As an esteemed psychologist analyzing this accused murderer, I have found a few key pieces of evidence that ultimately lead me to the decision that the murderer is in fact mad and I recommend psychological rehabilitation as well as jail sentence as a proper penalty for the crime committed. Although, he claims he can recount the night of the murder â€Å"healthily and