American Literature

Truenervousvery, very nervous I had been and am but why will you say that I am mad So begins the story of an individuals mental breakdown and his descent into madness. The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe is told from the first-person point of view. The first-person point of view allows Poe to create suspense, fear and anxiety, while letting the reader discover the thoughts of the narrator. By using the first-person point of view style of writing, Poe was able to demonstrate clearly how the narrator feels.

Poe tells the story with straight to the point words and easy to understand language by which defines and emphasizes the psychological issues of the narrator. Narrating the story through the eyes of the madman, it allows the reader to feel and see what is exactly happening. It makes the reader feel the paranoia and mental deterioration of the narrator because they get to hear, or read, his thoughts as he experiences them. This narrative style does not eradicate the excitement and suspense in the story, even if there are no hidden meanings in the narrators words. The narrators words explain exactly what he goes through all throughout the story and his words are able to show the definitive descriptions of his feelings and thoughts as it goes from one state to another.

Contradictions are presented to signify the split in the narrators personality. This is presented by the narrators love for the old man, though he had never wronged (the narrator)he had never given me insult(but the narrator) made up (his) mind to take the life of the old man  (Poe p.221). This signifies the love-hate feeling of the narrator towards the old. There is no other motive other than fear of the old mans vulture eye as it made his blood (run) coldand chilled the very marrow of (the narrators) bones (Poe pp.221, 223).

The narrative style used in the story gives emphasis on the attempt of the narrator to justify and rationalize his insane actions, informing the readers that he is nervous not mad, as what he said at the start of the story. He believes his sanity because he was able to calculate and plan carefully the murder that he will be doing. After the murder itself, the narrator described how he was able to hide all traces of evidence that may point to him. And with this he was very proud saying, for what I had to fear(bidding the officers) to search  search well (Poe p.224). However, this rationalization faltered when because of his heightened sense, as he claims caused by his disease, his mental deterioration, twisted and distorted his sense of reality and fantasy. He began hearing the thumping heart of his dismembered victim and began confessing to the murder that he committed proving his guilt and his insanity. An in his final statement, he described the policemen as villains proving more his distorted sense of reality and fantasy.

By using a first-person narrative style, Poe is able to highlight the differences of the actions of the narrator compared to a normal man. The distorted reality of the narrator is stressed when Poe allowed the narrator to tell his own version of the story, clearly signifying that he is not mentally fit. The narrator argues that he has heightened senses and that he plans accurately despite of his said mental deterioration proving that he is, in fact, sane and not a madman as what can be characterized of him. By using the first-person narrative style, the story is able to reveal clearly the inner thoughts of someone who is mentally unfit, and it uncovers the mystery of a psychopathics mind and how and why he thinks about murder. The narrative style is used effectively in this story because it is able to uncover how one can be characterized as insane and mad given the clear and distinct distortions of his mind.