An Analysis Of Insanity In Edgar Allen Poe's A Tell-Tale Heart

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Have you ever once wanted to commit such a dreadful crime on someone only for your self-righteousness and the repetitive act of being irritated by something? I wouldn’t want anyone to be brutally murdered due to the fact you were so irritated or annoyed by that persons appearance. In the short story “A Tell Tale heart” by Edgar Allen Poe, an unnamed narrator opens the story by claiming he isn’t mad or insane, but still confesses of killing an old man due to the “evil eye” he possesses. He tries to defend his sanity throughout this story, although he still confesses to have killed the old man. This man is purely insane and the why and level of how is exactly the point that will be proven. The question isn’t whether or not he’s insane or not…show more content…
That may sound weird to some, but if he’s as insane as I think he is, it could all be an act. Couldn’t it all have been made up in his mind due to his insanity? Maybe he is so insane that this was all just a dream of his. Whether or not he really done it or it was all a pigment of his imagination, first degree murder is first degree murder and there is no way out of it. If you kill someone for a foolish reason such as his, then you are classified as insane, I don’t care who you are or how guilty you plead. I think the way he claimed to be sanity but admitting he killed someone is pure insanity. I think there’s also a chance that the narrator himself is telling this story to a bunch of friends for the pure enjoyment of it. “How, then, am I mad? Harken and observe how healthily-how calmly I can tell you the whole story.” (715). This is a very farfetched possibility but it is possible for an insane man. If Edgar himself and the narrator in the story are as insane as indicated, maybe the narrator made all of this up and is telling a group of friends around a bonfire a made up story. It’s very unlikely but they are both known for their minds tricks so I do believe it is quite…show more content…
He lived only to be around forty and had a very strange adult life, as well as a strange death. Growing up in such a dark time really played a role in the outcome of his short stories. If I grew up in a perfect little fairy tale land, than I would most likely write short stories on those perfect little fairy tales. Same situation as Poe, just a different time setting and the magnitude of which he was raised was different. The way he was raised in his time back in the day really shows us why he chose to write about the stories that he did. I think that the tragedies that he suffered growing up led him to say and do the things he done and that is why he is so beloved as a
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