Literary Critism Essay

8/2/2019 Literary Critism Essay

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LITERARY CRITISM ESSAY

The Tell Tale Heart is a story about a man who was trying to prove his sanity to

himself after murdering an old man. Driven mad by the old mans vulture -like eye, the

narrator kill him in his bed and hides it beneath the floorboards. When the police show

up to question him, the narrator finds himself at the mercy of his heightened senses. He

begins to hear a steadily increasing heartbeat coming from the floor. Sure that the

police must hear it too (they dont), he confesses to the crime. Two types of literary

critism apply to the short story is the psychoanalytical critism and reader response

critism.

Psychoanalytical critismfocuses on the writers mind or psyche that effect of lite ratureupon its reader.How, then, am I mad? Hearken! And observe how healthily- how calmly I

can tell you the whole story ( para 1, line 4). It shows that the narrator wants to

influence the readers mind that he want to tell he is not insane. In his short story, "The

Tell Tale Heart," Edgar Allan Poe left a positive impression with his use of literary

devices. In my analysis of his story, it seems obvious that he is concern to the study of

paranoia and mental deterioration. His obsession with the old man's eye ultimately

caused him to become mad. After much effort and hope, he eventually became calm.

With the use of irony, symbolism, and imagery, Poe is able to captivate the horrible act

of that unfortunate night of the old man's tragic death.

The irony was that the narrator kept repeating the idea that he was not mad

that somehow, he was insane. He wanted to prove his sanity by calmly taking the

reader back to the events but failed when he allowed the beating of the dead heart to

completely consume him and confess when he did not have to which leads to his

initial point saying that he was not mad, when all evidence leads to the truth that he was

mad. Another factor from the story that was ironic was his obsession for the simple

thing: the old man's eye. It was not for the man's wealth, possessions, nor was there a

hidden motif behind this man. It was simple, his blue eyes bothered him and he wanted

to do something about it. His feelings towards the eyes were potent enough to push him

to extreme levels and murder that poor man. With the use of verbal irony, the narrator

empathizes with the old man, while planning to kill him. The narrator lacked explanation

in his reasons behind wanting to murder. Poe also uses dramatic irony because the

reader knows that the narrator killed the man but the police are all unaware of what had


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gone on. Poe managed to trick them into believing that he didn't kill the man. Poe

provided plenty of irony throughout this story and with this; he alluded back to the idea

that the narrator is in fact, insane.

Poe provides many instances of symbolism throughout the short story. First

being the heart in which shows for the narrator's strong guilty conscious towards his

actions. The "old mans' fear" in which was growing louder and louder was entirely his

own. The more stressed out he became, the louder the heart started to beat; bringing

him closer to being caught. The man's eye is blue with a curtain covering it, which could

possibly signify his inability to see what was right under his nose. The man in which he

had trusted and adored became the death of him. Literally, the old man was unable to

see clearly and this becomes a factor that would lead to his ultimate death. Poe also

mentioned the watch quite a few times throughout the events, "He was still sitting up in

the bed listening; just as I have done, night after night, hearkening to the death

watches in the wall" which expresses the idea that death had been waiting patiently as

every tick of the clock progressed. In addition, the fact that the murder took place in the

bedroom could also signify that it is within our bedroom when we are most vulnerable.

When we are asleep, our mind is somewhere else, making this the perfect opportunity

for the narrator to claim his vulnerable kill. The title symbolizes the moral behind this

story; the heart that told a tale of sanity. The examples of symbolism merge through hisuse of imagery that was apparent throughout the short story.

The narrator takes the reader through every step of the process using imagery.

He uses the five senses to aid the reader to feel as though they are actually there.

Every move, every sound, every sight was described through his use of imagery. This

also further illustrates the reader's sense of fear and anticipation. The narrator also

speaks of the thin veil that hovers over the old man's eye to the board from beneath his

feet. It made the climax much more dramatic as opposed to obviously stating the

events. Poe visually paints the picture of each strange moment that was leading up to

the resolution that the reader had not expected. Overall, Poe successfully constructed

the three literary elements; irony, symbolism, and imagery to portray the character of a

psychic man.


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Reader respond critism is the critical views of readers perception or assumption

toward the short story. As an example, but I found the eye always closed; and so it was

possible to do the work;. (para 4 , line 11) .At that century, people belief that who

person has evil eye will bring bad luck or danger to other people. So that, the narrator

murdered his master as to avoid himself from danger of evil eye. The story left a lasting

impression and I enjoyed much of it. The experience left me questioning whether or not

the narrator was truly sane or if it was simply his guilty conscious that caused him to

confess. For the same reasons I found such a story to be difficult to comprehend,

became the same reasons in which left me speechless. Its complexity lured me into

wanting to be able to understand the story to its fullest potential.

It was rather hard for me to find a motive behind the narrator's actions but as I re-

read the story, I realized that there was not much of a reason other than the fact that he

was simply mad. Poe achieved what he had wanted and in the most dramatic way. The

irony of his madness, combined with the symbolic meaning behind the eye and the

visualizations of what went on ultimately conveyed the narrator's questionable sanity.

In all honesty, I believe that he was not in the right state of mind because such acts

would have not been expected from a person who claimed to have adored the old man.

Behind the faade of kindness, he had wanted to end the man's life and he seemed

quite passionate about it, too. With that being said, "The Tell Tale Heart", was creepydue to its lack of reason behind his act but at the same time, the short but dark tale

spoke volumes.

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Literary Critism Essay