†Lexa's Response to Literature Essay, Tell-Tale Heart†

"...For it was not the old man who vexed me - but his Evil Eye." (Poe. 626) In Edgar Allan Poe's stories, he keeps you excited and wanting to know what will happen next. Tell-Tale Heart is the story of a madman who murders an old man because of the lazy eye that haunts him. After his deed was done, the cops come in to inspect. Eventually he starts hearing voices in his head and goes crazy. He admits his crime and shows them the body. Edgar Allan Poe might have been a little crazy but his stories have astounding characterization, colorful imagery, and intriguing plots.

In this story, characterization plays a major role. The two main characters have opposite personalities. While one has a quiet, old personality, the other is younger and more on the mental and crazy side. "You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing, but you should have seen me..." (Poe. 626) This quote is from the crazy guy. He claims that he is not crazy, but in my opinion, if you have to argue with someone that you are not crazy, than you probably are. "It took me an hour to place my head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed." (Poe. 626) Obviously, if it takes you a whole hour to stick your head through a door, you've got to have some mental problems. You can also be pretty intelligent along with the craziness. Using imagery helps readers see the characters' unusual personalities.

Edgar Allan Poe had a great, creative mind, and used it to make his stories detailed enough that the reader could picture the scenes in his/her head. "He had the eye of a vulture - a pale blue eye, with a film over it." (Poe. 625) When I hear that statement I picture a big glossy looking eye that is a smoky blue color. If the imagery in this sentence wasn't the way it is, I might have just pictured a regular human eye that is hazel or brown. "It was a low, dull, quick sound much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton." (Poe. 630) The narrator is describing the slow beating of what he thinks is the old man's heart. He doesn’t know that it is really the pounding of his own heart that he hears in his head, which drives him insane. Poe's creative imagery helps put together the amazing plots of his stories.

Tell -Tale Heart had an intriguing plot that kept me interested and wanting to read more and find out what would happen next. "So you see he would have been a very profound old man indeed to suspect that every night, just at midnight, I looked in upon him while he slept." (Poe. 626) After reading this, I was instantly intrigued to read more and find out more about the madman and the old man that was soon to be killed. It left me wondering how the story would end. "First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head, and the arms and the legs." (Poe. 629) I wouldn’t think that a crazy man would go to that extent to hide the body. I imagined that he would have just dropped it and left, but he really wanted to make sure that the old man was dead. The plot of Tell-Tale Heart was the best, and most interesting part of this unusual story.

Although I'm not sure how Poe came up with some of his brilliant stories, I know that I enjoyed reading Tell -Tale Heart, because of its creative characterization, imagery, and interesting plot. Poe was a great author and after reading Tell-Tale Heart, I was encouraged to read some more of his books and poems.