Descriptive, Psychological, Suspenseful - “The Tell-Tale Heart”

“Descriptive, psychological and suspenseful” - are the adjectives associated with “The Tell-Tale Heart”, a horror short fiction written by Edgar Allen Poe. The story is solely about a planned murder, in which the unnamed narrator kills an old man he has observed for seven nights. He tries to defend his own sanity; however, he has been hypersensitive in the story. Sounds and uncontrollable thoughts pop out of his head from time to time. Even if he attempts to suppress those undesirable actions, he just cannot help himself but to further leak the truth of dismembering the corpse of the old man. In fact, the unnamed narrator tries not to admit he is the murderer. Yet, as he slowly states the concrete killing plan, his denial cannot be justified. The story is indeed fascinating, while the following elements might contribute to its wonder. The reason for the story being “descriptive” is its diverse choices of literary devices. Literary devices are essential to better express the author’s ideas and highlight the important themes in a short story. It can be observed that several repetitions are used in the text to exaggerate the main actions of the narrator. Examples include “slowly - very, very slowly”, “cautiously - oh, so cautiously - cautiously” and more. //These repeated adverbs highly emphasize the degree of the action performed by the murderer, so as to enable readers to indulge in the fictional world while they read. Furthermore, sensory devices are used by the author to depict the atmosphere and develop the story. “Low, dull, quick sound” is a way used to portray the noise which the murderer makes during the killing. Consequently, the neighbour of the old man feels weird and reports it to the police. This is certainly a good usage of sound to bring out the events as if the readers hear the sound. In contrast to the dreadfully silent environment in the beginning, the abrupt cut-in proves it is unusual to have some kind of loud noise. The murder is not ordinary. The adjective “psychological” perfectly suits the themes of the story. Closely examining the text, it can be seen that the narrator states he loves the old man. But somehow due to his mental disorder, he has grown his hatred towards the old man as well. This reflects how the two supposedly opposite concepts, love and hate, are actualised on the same deluded individual. Such kind of extreme duality occurring in the narrator answers why he is the murderer after all, thus demonstrating love and hate could be of close affinity. To add on, another key theme in the story is the rationality of humans. Humans are creatures that possess logic and moral standards (i. e. virtues), but what the murderer seems to do has displayed the exact converse of them. By disjointing humans into parts, he demonstrates to what extent one can be unethical and inhumane, and also how emotional instability can adversely impact humans. Adding some psychological touches to the story does deepen the underlying meaning of the story. Besides the love and hate for the old man, the narrator’s tone is also a hint of why he is the murderer himself. Throughout the story, the vibe of the story is, as the title suggested, suspenseful. Every sentence brings a slight bit of uncertainty. At the same time, dialogues are full of ellipses and hesitations, which give rise to how agitated and frantic the narrator sounds like when he has been panicking. Furthermore, towards the end of the story, the narrator starts to speak to the police officers in despair, as if he is begging them to believe that he is not the murderer. But in the final paragraph of the story - “Villains! ” I shrieked, “dissemble no more! I admit the deed! ” - he pleads guilty to his wrongdoing. This is where The Tables Turn takes place, as he is too miserable to a point that he cannot withstand the pressure and the inner conflict of his brain. With the story concluding in such a different way, it is proved once again the narrator is a mentally insane individual. All in all, “The Tell-Tale Heart” is a splendid horror fiction which everyone must pay a tribute to Poe for his focus on his meticulous depiction of the characters. Meanwhile, the effort Poe exerts on demonstrating love and hate from a psychological perspective in the story makes it definitely worth a read. With a mysterious tone ruling the whole story, a plot twist comes in place towards the end of the horror. This short fiction shall be recommended to students of all ages who are passionate about ethics and philosophy, since the relationship between love and hate in the book might provoke their intellectual minds.