Holly Kohl
11/7/10
per. 3/4
Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

Everyone has their imperfections. From ugly toes, to crooked fingers, and weird looking eyes; no one is perfect. Little do you know, people may be watching you, hating it. Despising it so much, that they finally decide to fix it. In Edgar Allan Poe's Tell-Tale Heart, the narrator is obsessed with an old man's imperfect eye. The narrator's abhorrence of the eye grows more and more every second that he has to see it; however, the old man is completely oblivious of such disgust towards his eye. You discover just how crazy the narrator is when he murders the old man to free himself from looking at it any longer. This short story displays wonderful imagery, amazing characterization, and excellent falling action.

One of the many things that Edgar Allan Poe was talented at, was his cunning ability to paint a picture for the reader simply by the way he described things. In, "His room was black as pitch with the thick darkness (for the shutters were close fastened, in through fear of robbers), and so I knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and I kept pushing it on steadily, steadily," Poe displays an example of the elaborate imagery in the story where he tells us what the narrator is visualizing when he sneaks into the old man's room. (Poe 626) When reading this you can see the image in your head, which is exactly what good writers can accomplish in their stories. Another example of imagery is, "It was a low, dull, quick sound- much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton." (Poe 628) This is when Poe describes the old man's muffled moans as the narrator crushes him with a heavy bed, leading to his death. Although it wasn't the most pleasant event to read about, Poe shows his artistic ability once again in creating a picture for the reader with words.

Imagery isn't the only thing that Edgar Allan Poe is good at, he is also superb at sharing characterization with the reader. "He had the eye of a vulture- a pale blue eye, with film over it." (Poe 627) This is a great example of characterization about the old man's eye. It also describes what exactly drove the narrator so crazy and what made him lose his sanity. Another example of characterization is, "The disease had sharpened my senses- not destroyed- not dulled them." (Poe 623) This tells the reader what the narrator thinks about his disease. It tells us what the narrator is like on the inside and not just what he looks like physically.

Another thing that stood out to me in Tell-Tale Heart, was the well written falling action. "I arose and argued about the trifles, in a high key and with violent gesticulations, but the noise steadily increased." (Poe 630) This is from the end of the story when the narrator starts to feel guilty about what he did. Edgar Allan Poe really emphasized the narrator's guilt with the "noise" that only the narrator could hear. "I admit the deed!-tear up the planks- here, here! - it is the beating of his hideous heart!" (Poe 630) This comes at the very end of the story when the narrator admits he murdered the old man to the police. I think that this was the best way for the story to end if the old man could not stay alive, but this story was very interesting to read and was nothing like anything I have read before.

Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe is a short story filled with wonderful imagery, amazing characterization, and an excellent falling action. It is a story about an old man who was killed for his imperfect eye when the narrator of the story had his own imperfections as well. The story definitely makes you realize that even a crazy writer, like Edgar Allan Poe, can create a fantastic story that people will read and enjoy. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a perplexing story.