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The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
Unit – 7 (Crime and Confession)
MAIN SUMMARY
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story that has been written by the American writer Edgar Allan Poe. This story was initially published in the year 1843. In this story, the narrator doesn't like to be called mad. He claims that he is not mad at all because he can perfectly do his tasks. He also claims that his sense of hearing is quite acute because he can easily hear things from heaven and hell. To justify himself as a saint as well as a sane person, he confesses a dangerous crime that he has committed. According to him, he and the old man used to live together. They had a very good relationship. He used to love the old man very much. The old man also used to treat him very well. The only thing that irritated him much was the eye of the old man, which was pale and vulture-like. The narrator wanted to kill the old man only because of this irritation. According to him, when that particular eye fell upon him, his whole body's hot blood turned out to be cold. He became restless and murmured a lot in anger inside his room. To kill the old man, he went to the old man’s room for seven continuous nights, quite cautiously and stealthily. But he returned, being a failure, as he could not find the eye of the old man opened. In the morning, he spoke with the old man politely and behaved as if nothing had happened. On the eighth night, he went there again with his torchlight. He did everything stealthily and cautiously. Despite it, he happened to touch the tin fastening, which dropped and disturbed the sleep of the old man. In desperation, the old man asked who it was. The narrator remained speechless and motionless in one of the corners of the room. The old man was very panicked. He knew someone was in his room. The heartbeat of the old man grew faster and faster. The narrator got angrier when he heard the heartbeat of the old man. The narrator aimed a beam of his torchlight towards the old man’s eyes. As he saw the eye of the old man, he grew angrier. He jumped towards the old man. The old man screamed in fear. The narrator dragged the old man down on the floor and pressed his neck against a heavy bed. Finally, the old man died. The narrator cut the body of the old man into pieces and hid the parts under the wooden floor. After that, he cleaned the spot. It was already four when he finished his task. Later on, three policemen appeared and rang the bell. The narrator opened the door and welcomed them. He took them to every nook and cranny of his house. The policemen did not suspect anything wrong there. The narrator took them to the spot where he had hidden the corpse of the old man. He cordially asked them to sit on the chairs, which he had kept there. He sat just over the wooden plank where he had hidden the old man’s body. The policemen continued talking with a smiling face. In the meantime, the narrator heard the sound coming from beneath. He thought of it as the heartbeat of the old man. He desired to reduce the loudness of the sound. For that, he started speaking loudly. He felt the sound growing and the policemen's smile as a smile of mockery. It became unbearable for him to keep the reality a secret. He thought it was better to confess his crime than to hide. Eventually, he confessed his crime.
SHORT SUMMARY
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Allan Edgar Poe has shown how guilt forces a person to confess his crime. Though the narrator of this story says that he is not mad, his activities show that he is certainly mad. He lived in the house of an old man. He did not like the eyes of that old man, who was pale and vulture-like. For this simple reason, he decided to kill him to get rid of his eye. The narrator tried for seven nights to murder the old man, but returned without killing him. On the eighth night, he pulled the old man down to the floor and squeezed him to death. He chopped the dead body and carefully buried it under the wooden floor. Soon, some police officers came because someone had heard a scream and informed them to investigate. The narrator told them that the scream was his own in a dream, and the old man was absent for some days. As the policemen talked with him, the narrator heard the tick-tick sound of a watch coming from a dead man’s watch. Since his mental condition was not normal, he mistook it for the heartbeat of the old man. He could not bear it and confessed his crime finally.
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
(Short 2075) – Explain the significance of the repetition of the words.....” low, dull, quick sound-much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton”. Does this sound encourage the narrator to commit the crime?
Answer:
This repetition of the words "low, dull, quick sound—much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton” has vital significance behind the confession of the narrator’s big crime of murder. This line has presented the narrator’s aggression towards the sound of a watch, which he had supposed to be the heart sound of the old man. Yes, the sound of the watch encourages the narrator to confess his crime. He felt quite at ease while talking with the policemen at first. But when the sound of a watch starts coming from beneath, he becomes restless. His anger gradually grows. He starts talking louder to reduce the watch’s sound. He thinks of it as the heartbeat of the old man. He finds policemen’s smiling faces and hears a louder watch’s sound. He gets impatient at last and confesses his crime of murdering the old man.
Why does the narrator kill the old man? Would you call the narrator mad? Provide appropriate reasons for your answer.
Answer:
The narrator of this story is a patient with a nervous disease. He is a mentally abnormal person. In this story, the narrator plays dual roles. On one hand, he behaves in a very lovable manner towards the old man, whereas he builds up his intense hatred for him on the other. While he is alone, he becomes restless. The only reason for his hatred towards the old man is the eye of the old man. He feels quite an irritation whenever he sees the old man’s pale eye. He calls it a vulture’s eye. According to him, whenever the old man's eye falls on him, his whole body's hot blood turns cold. Due to this intense hatred, he kills the old man.
Yes, I would call the narrator mad for various reasons. He kills an innocent old man for a minor reason. After killing the old man, he even doesn’t have any remorse for his guilt. He doesn’t feel any hesitation while killing, as well as after killing the old man. After his cruel deed, he acts as if nothing has happened. All his evil acts prove that he is a mad person.
Why does the narrator want to kill the old man? Why does his effort to kill him go in vain for seven nights?
Answer:
The narrator of this story is a patient with a nervous disease. His acts seem normal while he talks with the old man in the daytime. His restlessness can be seen while he is alone. He has a good relationship with the old man. The old man treats him in a very smiley way. But the narrator feels quite distressed when he looks into the old man’s eye. He became irritated and restless when the old man’s eye fell on him. He is quite bothered by those pale, clouded, vulture-type eyes. His hot body’s blood turns cold whenever he looks at the eye. To get rid of the eye, he wants to kill the old man. His effort to kill the old man goes in vain for seven nights because he doesn’t find the real cause of his anger. He goes there quite stealthily and cautiously for seven nights, but he finds the old man’s eyes closed. So, he doesn’t kill the old man on those nights.
Why does the narrator kill the man? How does he feel after the murder?
Answer:
The old man and the narrator live together. They have a very good relationship. The narrator loves the old man very much. The old man also treats him very well. The only thing that irritates the narrator is the eye of the old man. According to the narrator, the old man has a clouded, pale, and blue “vulture-like” eye, which distresses him so much. The old man’s eye always causes him trouble. When the old man’s eye falls on the narrator, his hot body’s blood turns cold. This hatred becomes more intense day by day. Finally, the narrator murders the old man. After killing the old man, he doesn’t feel any remorse. Without having any fear, he talks with the policeman in a smiling way. But in the end, he confesses his crime in front of the policemen.
Why does the narrator develop intense hatred against the old man? Would you call the narrator mad? Give a reason for your answer.
Answer:
The narrator develops intense hatred only because of the old man’s eye. The old man and the narrator live together. They have a very good relationship. The narrator loves the old man very much. The old man also treats him very well. The only thing that irritates the narrator is the eye of the old man. According to the narrator, the old man has a clouded, pale, and blue “vulture-like” eye, which distresses him so much. The old man’s eye always causes him trouble. When the old man’s eye falls on the narrator, his body's hot blood turns cold. This hatred becomes more intense day by day. Finally, the narrator plots to murder the old man.
Yes, I would like to call the narrator mad. He is suffering from a mental disease. He always claims that he is not mad because he is working well all the time. He does not like to be called mad. He also claims that he is oversensitive and can hear things in heaven, hell, and earth. He kills the old man for a minor reason. He doesn’t have any remorse or repentance for his murderous act. To prove himself sane, he directly accepts his guilt in front of policemen. I think sane people never do such acts in their lives.
What made the narrator confess his crime?
Answer:
The narrator of the story was a patient with a nervous disease. He chopped the innocent old man for a minor reason. He wanted to hide his crime. He hid all the pieces of the old man’s body under the wooden floor. The policemen came there to inquire. The narrator took them to the spot where he had buried the old man’s body. While talking, the narrator heard the sound of a watch coming from beneath. He thought of it as the heartbeat of the old man. The sound grew louder each time. He tried his best to reduce the loudness of the sound. He spoke loudly with the policemen, but the policemen smiled all the time during their talk. The narrator thought of it as mockery as well as insulting. That particular smile of the policemen and the sound of the watch made the narrator confess his crime. Finally, he confessed his crime.
Describe the scene when the narrator killed the old man.
Answer:
On the eighth night, he, as usual, went to the old man’s room with a torchlight. He did everything stealthily and cautiously. Despite it, he happened to touch the tin fastening, which dropped and disturbed the sleep of the old man. In desperation, the old man asked who it was. The narrator remained speechless and motionless. The old man was very afraid. He knew someone was in his room. The heartbeat of the old man grew faster and faster. The narrator got angrier when he heard the heartbeat of the old man. The narrator aimed the torchlight's beam towards the old man’s eyes. As he saw the eyes, he grew angrier. He jumped towards the old man. The old man screamed in fear. The narrator dragged the old man and pressed his neck against a heavy bed. Finally, the old man died. The narrator cut the body of the old man into pieces and hid it under the wooden floor.
Describe the situation which encouraged the narrator to kill the old man? (The Tell-Tale Heart)
Answer:
This story is so scary. Here in this story, we get acquainted with an old man and a narrator. The narrator of this story lived with the old man. The narrator of this story was a patient with a nervous disease. On one hand, he loved the old man very much, whereas he got aggressive whenever he saw his eye. According to the narrator, the old man’s eye was pale, clouded, and vulture-like. He became restless when he saw his eye. He tried to kill the old man for this minor reason. He moved towards the old man’s room for seven days but failed to accomplish his goal. Next, on the eighth night, he went there in a very stealthy way. But he happened to touch the tin fastening, which disturbed the old man’s sleep. The room was so dark. The narrator could hear the heartbeat and pants of the old man. He became more furious. Later on, he showed a beam of light directly over the old man’s eyes. He couldn’t control his aggression and finally killed the old man.
What did the narrator do every night at midnight?
Answer:
Every night, the narrator went very quietly to the old man’s room to kill him. He opened the old man’s door slowly and quietly and put his head inside the room. He aimed the beam towards the old man’s eyes but found his eyes closed. So he did not kill the old man, and he quietly returned from there.
Describe the old man’s eyes?
Answer:
The old man is a nice person. He treats the narrator very well. But the narrator does have a different opinion about the old man’s eye. The narrator feels irritation whenever he sees the eyes of the old man. According to the narrator, the old man has a clouded, pale, and blue “vulture-like” eye, which distresses him so much. The old man’s eyes always cause him trouble. When the old man’s eye falls on the narrator, his body's hot blood turns cold. The narrator can’t tolerate the eyes of the old man.
How did he kill the old man?
Answer:
He killed the old man with an intense use of force. On the eighth night, he attacked the old man. He jumped towards the old man after seeing his eyes. The old man screamed in fear. The narrator dragged the old man and pressed his neck against a heavy bed. Finally, the old man died. The narrator cut the body of the old man into pieces and hid it under the wooden floor. He cleaned the bloody spot and placed everything in order.
Why did the storyteller or the narrator decide to murder the old man?
Answer:
The old man and the narrator lived together. They had a very good relationship. The boy loved the old man very much. The old man also treated him very well. The only thing that irritated the narrator was the eye of the old man. According to the narrator, the old man had a clouded, pale, and blue “vulture-like” eye, which distressed him so much. The old man’s eye always caused him trouble. When the old man’s eye fell on the narrator, his hot body's blood turned cold. This hatred became intense day by day. Finally, the narrator decided to murder the old man.
Why and how did the narrator kill the old man?
Answer:
The narrator lived in the house of the old man. They had a very good relationship. The narrator got irritated whenever he saw the old man’s eye. Only because of this reason did he want to kill the old man. To kill the old man, he tried for seven nights but failed. On the eighth night, he tried again and succeeded in killing him with an intense use of force. He chopped down the old man into pieces and put the chopped pieces under the wooden planks. He cleaned the floor spotlessly, which was covered with an old man’s blood.
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