Hi guys! The Decepticons have finished The Tell-Tale Heart at last! Here's my analysis of this Poe Gothic story.
1.) Discuss who could be the villain (antagonist) in The Tell-Tale Heart. Consider your many options for the villain and discuss your rationale for your final choice.
The only human characters in this Gothic story are the narrator, the old man, a neighbor, and the police. Other characters include the old man’s eye and the heartbeat. The narrator is a strong contender for the villain from the beginning, as he states that he wanted to kill the old man. However, the narrator loses his battle in the end, and a key detail of classic Gothic literature is that the villain always triumphs. Therefore, the narrator cannot be the villain; rather, he is the protagonist. The neighbor also could not be the antagonist; he/she is mentioned only in one line. The police could not be the villains, for they are symbols of good in this story. They are nothing more than an opportunity for the narrator to give away the secret of his murder. This leaves the old man, his eye, or his heart as the villain. The old man himself is not the villain, because it is not he who triumphs over the narrator. The heartbeat also cannot be the villain because it does not represent the narrator’s repressed emotions/personality, which in this case is his insanity. In essence, the heartbeat is merely what causes the narrator to confess his murder to the police. The eye is the true villain, as it symbolizes the narrator’s insanity by making him nervous and anxious. The film over the eye represents the narrator’s blindness to his own insanity.
2.) What is the narrator’s motivation in reciting the crime? Consider the details he provides as he recites the crime from the beginning to the end.
The narrator is desperate to convince us, the readers, that he is not insane. In the very first line of the story, he asks us why we consider him mad and adamantly maintains that what people think is madness is actually a nervous disposition and heightened senses, especially of hearing. In his sixth sentence, he says that he will tell us the story in the calmest of spirits. However, it is obvious (hopefully) to the reader(s) that the narrator becomes more and more riled as he relates the tale of his murder to us. I personally imagined spittle flying from his mouth, wild gesturing, and pacing to and fro in his jail cell as reaches the climax of his story.
3.) What is the ultimate irony in The Tell-Tale Heart and how does it relate to the title of the story?
The ultimate irony in The Tell-Tale Heart is stated in the very last line. The narrator calls the policemen villains, unaware of his own villainy. Another example of irony used in the story is the fact that the narrator keeps saying that he is not insane. He tells his story to persuade us that he is not insane. However, the story gives us a very clear indication of his mental instability.
The ultimate irony in The Tell-Tale Heart is stated in the very last line. The narrator calls the policemen villains, unaware of his own villainy. Another example of irony used in the story is the fact that the narrator keeps saying that he is not insane. He tells his story to persuade us that he is not insane. However, the story gives us a very clear indication of his mental instability.
I think I'll mention something I didn't write for the first question of the Tell-Tale Heart. It was very difficult for me to choose between the heart/heartbeat and the old man's eye as the real villain of the story. I still think that you could argue that the heartbeat symbolizes the narrator's insanity: The old man is dead, so his heart can not possibly be beating, and yet the narrator firmly believes that it is. Furthermore, it's very possible, or even probable, that the narrator is hearing his own heartbeat speed up and thunder in his ears as he gets more and more riled up. So, I think it's safe to say that you can argue both ways - for the heartbeat or for the eye.
ReplyDelete~Maria >.<
What is the ultimate irony in The Tell-Tale Heart and how does it relate to the title of the story?
ReplyDeleteSorry guys! I failed to mention how the story gives us a clear example of the narrator's insanity. Hope this will clear some things up!
The narrator is blind to the real identities of the policemen: They are forces of good that come to convict the narrator. They are the ones who give the narrator the opportunity to confess his murder.
For the second example of irony, I will add that the old man’s eye is the villain (explained in the first question) and thus represents the narrator’s (who is the protagonist) repressed emotions, feelings, and personality. It makes the narrator anxious and jumpy. This symbolizes the narrator’s nervousness, which is or causes his insanity. The eye also has a film over it, meaning that it is blind and cannot see. This represents the narrator’s blindness to his own madness.
--Maria >.<