† Tell Tale Heart Literary Response †

By Jessica Mancini

Edgar Allen Poe displays amazing imagery, an exciting plot, and a somber mood in his fabulous story, Tell Tale Heart. Tell Tale Heart is a sinister tale that is told from the narrator’s point of view, a disturbed man that has an intense longing to rid himself of the ‘evil’ eye of an old man that he dubs a friend. To rid himself of the eye, the narrator slips into the old man’s house every night and watches him. Until one night he murders the old man, crushing him under his bed, and burring him under the floorboards.

The fantastic imagery in Tell Tale Heart gives the reader a very acute vision of the various happenings of the story. Poe’s description of the eye, “He had the eye of a vulture- a pale blue eye with a film over it.” (Pg.625) gives the reader an accurate image of the eye. He also describes every action in excruciating detail that you can practically see every movement. For example, “I undid the lantern cautiously- oh so cautiously (for the hinges creaked) – I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye.” (Pg.626)

The entrancing plot of Tell-tale Heart lures the reader in and captivates their attention. The plot is introduced in a disturbing way, when the author declares. “It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night.”(Pg.625) He is speaking of his idea to kill the old man to get rid of the eye, same as when he says, “…I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.”(Pg.626) His promise of that action hooks your attention and makes you want to keep reading to know what happens.

The somber mood in this story gives the reader a sense of death and misery. Poe speaks in such a sinister manner that it can send chills up your spine, as in the quote, “… because Death, in approaching him, had stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim.”(Pg.627) Poe uses the same approach throughout the entire story, with only occasional, slight humor. He shows the fright in the old man when he is about to meet his death, “Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror.”(Pg.626) He says that he knew the sound well, because he had felt the same dread, night after night.

Tell Tale Heart’s amazing imagery, exciting plot, and somber mood results in an entrancing tale that you cannot pull yourself away from. Poe’s insanity, and his great talent seep through into his work, creating stories like Tell Tale Heart. The darkness in Tell Tale Heart radiates from the pages and lures you in like a moth to a flame, the remarkable work of Edgar Allen Poe.