The Tell Tale Heart Summary

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THE TELL-TALE HEART

SUMMARY
At the start of the story, the narrator is answering an imaginary listener. He
confesses that he has been ill but denies the fact that he is insane.
Furthermore, he announces that the illness has given him more strength
especially to his “sense of hearing”. He tells the imaginary listener that he is
more vigilant now and is able to hear everything. Then he tells the listener to
listen carefully as he narrates the story.

He confesses that there was no motive for what he did. He loved the old man
who never harmed him. The motive behind the murder was not his wealth and
gold, however, one of his eyes made him kill the old man. He hated his vulture-
like eye and it persuaded him to murder the old man. The narrator says that the
old man’s eye angered him so he made up his mind to kill him to shut that eye
once and for all.

Again he tries to prove his sanity by admitting that he planned carefully to


murder the old man making us aware that an insane person cannot plan. He
informs his readers that for seven continuous nights he would go into the old
man’s room, quietly, and would wait for the exact moment to commit the crime.
He would examine the old man’s eye with the help of his lantern and would find
it close. He would return annoyingly as it is his “Evil Eye” which motivates him to
murder him. Ironically, in the morning he would ask the old man how he spent
the night.

He continues with the story and tells us that on the night of the murder he went
to the old man’s room with more caution. He wonders at his cunning plan and
laughs at the old man’s lack of awareness. Out of nowhere, the old man sensed
something and moved. The narrator tells us that he did not feel afraid as he
knew the old man could not see him in the darkness. He, quietly, entered the
room. The old man suspected something and asked who was in the room.

The narrator informs us that he did not move an inch for an hour knowing that
the old man is alert. Then he hears a frightening cry from the old man sitting
alert in his bed. He tells us that the old man knows not of his presence but he
can assume his death impending upon him. Afterwards, he gradually puts light
on the old man and realizes that his hateful eye is open. It makes him angry. He
does not notice his face because he is not interested in it rather it is his eye that
troubles him. The sight of his eye fills him with rage.

Furthermore, as he boasts of his increased hearing sense, he hears the beating


of the victim’s heart. He tries to stay calm but the beating of the old man’s heart
increases his anger. The narrator becomes anxious and is unable to bear his
heartbeat anymore. The narrator takes the help of the bedsheets and holds it
firmly “over his head”. The old man, slowly and gradually, suffocates and his
heartbeat stops. The narrator takes a sigh of relief knowing that his eye will
never trouble him again.
He again challenges those who question his sanity and tells them that they
should consider how he hid the dead body so as no one can find it. He disjoints
every part of the dead body carefully. Then he removes the planks and hides
the pieces there cautiously making sure nothing is left behind. Afterwards, he
puts the planks down again, with great care, so that no one can get a clue of
their removal.

When he finishes, the clock strikes four in the morning. Someone knocks at the
door. He calmly opens the door and realizes that three policemen have arrived.
They have been called upon by one of the neighbors who heard the shriek of
the old man. They are here to investigate any mishap. He receives them calmly
and tells them that he shrieked because of a nightmare. He escorts them all
over the house and tells them to do their search. He even leads them to the old
man’s room and offers them chairs to sit there and rest.

He confesses that his calm demeanor made the cops believe his explanation and they sat
calmly there. They chat continuously and after a while, the narrator wishes they should
depart. Slowly and gradually, he becomes anxious and his calmness fades away. In the
meantime, he hears some sound. At first, he perceives it to be inside his head but then
he realizes that the sound is not internal rather it is in the room. He talks louder and
causes commotion in the room to cover it up but it gets louder with the passage of time.
He walks to and fro in the room to make some noise but its intensity increases.
However, the policemen seem not to hear it and they are busy chatting and
smiling as usual. The narrator thinks the policemen know and they are laughing
at his stupidity. He says he constantly suffered because of their smiles and
hearing that sound. Eventually, he cannot stand it anymore and confesses his
crime. He tells the policemen to uncover the planks and they will find the
mutilated body of the old man and his pumping heart.

THEMES
MENTAL HEALTH
Poe’s story shows its readers the importance of mental health. The story
demonstrates that mental illness can drive a person to the vilest acts.
Psychological problems can lead individuals to act dangerously without any
motive. The narrator, in the story, suffers from some mental problems which
lead to his destruction.

He, time and again, denies the fact that he suffers from mental illness but his
awkward actions prove that he suffers from some psychological problem. He is
obsessed with killing the old man for no apparent reason and scrutinizes him for
seven successive nights. The narrator, being paranoiac, kills the old man out of
fear but that is not an acceptable reason.

Furthermore, he also enjoys the moment when he suffocates the old man,
holding the bed sheets tightly over his face. This event makes him a sadist; who
enjoys inflicting pain on others. This event also shows that he has some
psychological problems. Through these events, Poe demonstrates the idea that
an individual’s psychological health is as important as his physical health.

GUILT
Guilt is another significant theme in the story. Although the narrator does not
feel guilty of his crime openly, however, it is his guilty conscience which leads
him to confess his crime. At first, he murders the old man in his room and
calmly hides his dead body underground. Then he calmly receives the
policemen and leads them across the house. However, in the hearts of his
heart, he feels nervous with the passage of time.

Slowly and gradually, he hears sounds which he did not hear previously. He becomes
anxious and tries to evade the sounds by making a commotion. However, his guilt does
not leave him until he confesses his crime. He is of the opinion that the heartbeat is that
of the old man’s heart but actually it is his own heart pumping with guilt. Externally, he
enjoys killing the old man but his guilty conscience does not let him enjoy the brutal
act.

CONFINEMENT
The theme of confinement is central to the story. The actions in the story are
confined to a house only. Neither the narrator nor the old man go outside the
house throughout the story. The narrator wants to break this confinement by
murdering the old man but is unsuccessful. He murders the old man but never
breaks his confinement.

The narrator thinks he will escape the life of confinement by killing the old man
who is a threat to his freedom, according to him, but never succeeds. Instead,
after killing he becomes more confined to the old man’s room. First, he would
roam around the house but after killing him, he sits with the policemen in the old
man’s room. He does not leave the room until he confesses his crime.

This confinement can imply that the narrator’s own psych has imprisoned him
and he is unable to escape it. He thought he would gain freedom by killing the
old man unaware of the fact that it is his mental confinement rather than his
physical which never lets him free.

CHARACTERS ANALYSIS
Characters are people who have some individual traits in a piece of writing.
Without characters, a piece of literature looks dull. They are mouthpieces for a
writer through which a writer expresses their opinions about a particular issue.
Characters provide them with an outlet to contribute to the social structure.
Some characters are major characters on which the writer focuses more while
others are minor characters who have a supporting role in a piece of writing. 
Poe’s story revolves around the unreliable narrator who murders an old man for
no apparent reason. Other characters in the story are not significant. The
detailed analysis of his character is given below;

THE NARRATOR
Poe does not give us information about the narrator’s gender. We, as readers,
do not know whether he is a male or a female. We assume that he is a male
and that is why we use the pronoun “He” for the narrator. After reading the story
we conclude that he has many problems in his character; he suffers from
paranoia, he is nervous and has some physical as well as mental illness. He
tries to prove his sanity for the most part of the story.

After reading the story, we assume that the narrator acts according to his
natural impulses. The narrator murders the old man because he thinks the old
man is a threat to his individual freedom. Being paranoiac, the narrator
assumes the old man is always trying to harm him, although he confesses that
he has never harmed him, he acts in advance and takes his life. He murders the
old man due to his own fear.

Furthermore, the narrator suffers from some kind of physical instability. His ears
are hypersensitive and he hears sounds which others do not hear. We, as
readers, do not know about his past and cannot claim that he suffers from some
ailment but his awkward behavior and his physical instability make us think he is
not physically fit.

As Poe lived most of his life in the southern United States we can, contextually,
assume that the narrator is a “Southern Gothic Hero”. The narrator may have a
master-slave relationship with the old man. It may be the case that the old man
as a ‘master’ mistreats the narrator as a ‘slave’. This may have urged the
narrator to murder the old man to get rid of his authoritative behavior.

Lastly, the narrator may be a sadist; ‘a person who derives pleasure, especially
sexual gratification, from inflicting pain or humiliation on others’, and to fulfill his
sadistic impulses he may have murdered the old man without any apparent
reason.

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