The Tell Tale Heart

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorHigh School, 12th grade October 2001

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The Tell-Tale Heart In "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe, the main character is completely insane. Think about it, he has no motivations for killing a man other than the man's eye, which drives him to murder. There is also the fact that he constantly says that he is not mad, do sane people go around saying that they are not crazy? I don't think so, he is clearly bonkers.

There was only one reason and one reason only for the murder that took place in this story. The reason is that the main character was crazy, he takes something that an ordinary person might think is a little bit scary or maybe a little bit annoying, and turn it into something he must destroy! The eye that sat promptly on the old mans face tormented him so much that he had no choice but to turn to murder.

Other than the old man's eye the main character had no other reason to murder an innocent old man. In fact I think that he even enjoyed his company. For example in the text it read: "I loved the old man. He had never given me an insult, he had never wronged me, for his gold I had no desire.

I THINK IT WAS THE EYE." Our main character continuously sates that he is not insane, crazy, mad, bonkers, wacko-zako or just plain old messed up in the head. Now ask yourself, do sane ordinary people walk around saying that they are not insane all the time. No! Most people who are sure that they aren't crazy don't even think about it. For example Mr.Carlyle doesn't come to class and say "Hi class, I'm not crazy" that would be both silly and crazy. The main character on the...