Tell-Tale Heart...Ingenius or Insane?

Summary and Analysis of "TheTell-Tale Heart"

by  Trent Lorcher (54,388 pts ), Edited by SForsyth
Published on Dec 22, 2009
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Symbolism in "The Tell-Tale Heart"

The next step in our analysis of "The Tell-Tale" Heart is a look at symbolism in "The Tell-Tale Heart."

1. The Eye - There are many symbolic interpretations of the old man's eye: (1) The eye represents the "I"; that is, it represents the essence of the old man; (2) The eye holds mysterious powers, according to the narrator, and may symbolize the inability of the narrator to hide his secret sins; (3) The old man's eye is "pale blue, with a film over it," indicating a lack of visual clarity and reliability. In this sense the eye symbolizes the narrator insomuch that all the information we receive comes through his distorted mind, much in the same way everything the old man sees is filtered through his distorted eye. Furthermore, the story is told through the narrator's perspective, who claims his actions are on account of the distorted eye, which suggests the point of view is literally and symbolically filtered through the old man's eye.
2. The Heart - Traditionally the heart symbolizes the emotional center of the individual. In "The Tell-Tale Heart," it symbolizes the narrator's guilt. He hears the heart twice, immediately before killing the old man and when the police are investigating the crime. Is it possible the narrator hears his own heart?

More Symbolism in "The Tell-Tale Heart"

Let's continue our analysis of "The Tell-Tale Heart" with a look at more symbolism in "The Tell-Tale Heart."

1. The Old Man's Bedroom - The narrator's intrusion into the old man's bedroom violates honorable conduct (especially when you take into account the whole murder thing). Speaking of violating someone, take a look at how the narrator describes his entrance into the room: "When I had made an opening sufficient for my head...I thrust in my head. Oh you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly--very, very slowly" (173). The narrator recounts on the eight night, "I heard a slight groan...It was not a groan of pain or of grief--oh, no!--it was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe" (174). What does this description sound like to you?
2. Watches - Poe loves clocks and watches (see "The Masque of the Red Death" and "The Pit and the Pendulum"). Clocks, watches, and time symbolize the approach of death. The narrator, who literally controls the time of death for the old man, compares himself to a watch's minute hand. He also mentions the "death watches in the wall." For those who didn't know, death watches are a species of beetles that live in walls and bang their heads to attract mates (see violating the old man above).

Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Tell-Tale Heart." The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales. New York: Signet, 1998. 172-177.

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My Take A Tell-Tale Heart

            The story was ingenious because it was eerie and captivating. The narrator’s obsession with the old man’s eye drove him into a frenzy of unstable behavior that lead in the death of the old man. But was it really the eye that drove him mad? Maybe it was the reflection of the narrator’s evil self that was shown through the eye in some way that drove him over the edge. This denial to prove that he was not crazy and that he could really hear the man’s heartbeat under the floor boards gave the reader a sign that he had some sort of guilt. Perhaps, it was from killing the old man or it could be that he could not kill the real thing that was evil…himself. In all actuality I believe that the narrator was trying to kill something in himself that he saw present in the eye. The eye was different, incomplete and disturbing. It was fake but not hidden from the outside world. Maybe the narrator felt that it was not fair that the eye’s nature and use did not have to be hidden but the narrator’s true nature had to be.