Response to Literature Essay - Zahra Ansari

The old man’s grotesquely abnormal Eye, “pale blue with film over it” evoked intense feelings of antipathy and hatred from the madman. These feeling became so extreme, that they drove him to the point of murder. “Whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever.” These were the thoughts running through the madman’s mind in Edgar Allen Poe’s dark, sinister story, Tell-tale Heart. Poe shows extremely descriptive imagery, a heart pounding climax, and an extremely shocking resolution that will leave the reader on the edge of their seat!

The amazingly descriptive imagery in Edgar Allen Poe’s Tell-Tale Heart will create unforgettable, vivid pictures in your mind that will actually make you feel like your inside the dark, cryptic story. An example of this is when Edgar Allen Poe describes the elderly man’s Eye. “He had the eye of a vulture, a pale blue eye with film over it.” Poe describes the Evil Eye, in grisly detail and makes you feel as if his ice-cold eyeball is staring right at you. Another example of imagery in Tell Tale heart is when Poe describes the old man after he had pulled the bed over him. “He was stone dead.” He uses the word stone, since stone’s cannot feel or touch. They lay motionless and have no emotion so that is how the old man must have looked after he was killed.

The intense, exciting climax in Tell-Tale Heart leaves anticipation from the reader of what might happen next. “ Presently, I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror.” This quote to me is very suspenseful. The unnamed murderer is about to dash in to the elderly man’s room with only one thought going through his mind, to kill him. Another example of this petrifying climax is when the madman bursts in the old man’s room. “With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped in the room” From this quote, you can tell that the mentally deranged killer get’s a thrill out of leaping in to the elderly man’s room. He only has the intention of making the “eye of a vulture”, seize to exist.

The unexpected, abrupt resolution Poe comes up with leaves the reader feeling vindicated, as if justice has been served. Just after he had committed the crime, the loony man states, “I smiled-for what I had to fear?” The police approached the elderly man’s residence and questioned him. He feels as if he has nothing to worry about, but later then feels pressured in to admitting to the misdemeanor. “Villains! Dissemble no more! I admit the deed! —Tear up the planks! Here here! —It is the beating of his hideous heart!” The madman suspected that the police knew what inhumane act he had perpetrated. He thought that the policemen were making a mockery of what he had done, so the psychotic man confessed.

Overall, Tell-Tale Heart is a terrifying, morbid story due to its vivid imagery, spell-binding climax, and astounding resolution. The unnamed perpetrator of the heinous crime murders a defenseless old man because he cannot stand the sight of his single imperfection. The reader feels vindicated because the murderous villain cannot live with his conscience, and ends up surrendering himself to the authorities. Tell-Tale Heart ends with a conclusion that will leave the reader sighing with relief.