Literary Devices In The Tell Tale Heart - 1707 Words

Edgar Allen Poe was known for his dark-romanticism writings which evoked horror in readers. Seen specifically in his short story, â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†, readers are able to get into the mind of the mentally ill narrator who murders an elderly man, one whom he claimed to love. Poe created conflict in this story by having the narrator admit to loving the man and having him be his caretaker. Conflict, and the story line, is created because it makes readers question why he would commit such a heinous crime as killing and dismembering the man. Readers eventually find out that it is the elderly man’s eye that pushes the narrator to do what he does. The narrator is trying to justify his actions and prove his sanity by explaining how he observes†¦show more content†¦Gargano wrote in a criticism of the story that the narrator uses â€Å"language that is wild and disordered† (261). Disordered and chaotic language is a universal theme, categorizing this work a s dark romanticism. With the story being so short, it is clear that there is thematic symbolism of the elderly man’s eye. The narrator first introduces the eye when discussing why he wanted to kill the old man. In admitting that the man never did him wrong and that he loved him but, he concludes that â€Å"it was his eye!† that haunted him. He goes on to describe that â€Å"He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold† (Poe 691). It is made clear very soon that the eye is not only of importance but also the cause of conflict. The narrator separates the eye, which he calls the â€Å"Evil Eye†, from the man. While it is not the old man that is the problem, it is the eye; he says â€Å"I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever† (Poe 691). The eye is what triggers his ultimate rampage of murder and dismembering. E. Arthur Robison from the University of California explains that â€Å"his [the narrator’s] sensitivity to sight is equally disturbing, for it is the old man’s eye which first vexed him and which he seeks to destroy.† There is importance in the idea of the eye triggering an immediate and quick action, the murder, while the rest of the story is prolonged. HeShow MoreRelatedRole of Realism in Edagar Allan Poe ´s The Tell Tale Heart and The Cask of Amortillado1014 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"The Tell Tale Heart† and â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† written by Edgar Allan Poe are dark short stories relevant to murder, revenge, and mystery. Poe writes both stories in a Gothic style in order to deal with ideas of realism. One may ask were the murders and punishments justifiable in either short story? One may also ask did Poe accurately depict realism in each story? 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Poe is a well-known author from the early 1800’s, who was part of the dark romanticism movement. While later in life he was a brilliant writer, Edgar Allan Poe faced many problems in his early life. Although Poe experienced death within his family at a young age, the hardships he encountered are thought to have influenced his dark writing style. These death inspired elements within Poe’s writing were ahead of their timeRead MoreThe Tell-Tale Heart and Symbolism1208 Words   |  5 Pagesworks, The Tell-Tale Heart is full of death and darkness. Poe used many of the real life tragedies he experienced as inspiration for his gothic style of writing. Poe dealt with many aspects of death and madness in his stories, madness again is playing a key role in the plot. In this short story Poe used literary devices such as point of view and symbolism to give it a more dramatic effect and add to the madness the narrator portrays. Poes use of the point of view device is very evident