Introduction
The short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe describes a man who becomes obsessed with an elderly man’s eye. He has devoted his entire life to finding ways to remove the eye for no apparent reason. He is relieved to finally achieve his ambition of murdering the old man. At first, he denied involvement in the murder but later felt so guilty that he confessed to the authorities. Throughout the story, the protagonist character is shown to be prideful, insane, and patient.
Pride
The story’s protagonist has a massive ego based on his pride as he tells the tale. He claims that his repairs were so thorough that “no human eye” could have detected any flaws in the boards, including his own. “There was nothing to wash out—no stain of any kind—no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary of that. A tub had caught all—ha! ha!” (Poe 66).
He claims that no one would suspect murder because he works so meticulously. Even when the cops came to his house later in the story, his superiority complex remained. They had no idea he had done anything wrong because they had already established his innocence. Overall, his ego is shown in his belief in his skills to clean up murder and sell his innocence to the law officers.
Insanity
The insanity of the character is shown throughout the story as the narrator explains what is in his thoughts. He provides an insightful glimpse into his mind as one of the most intriguing fictional characters ever created. He is an emotional rollercoaster, constantly swinging from one extreme to another. Many people would agree that he has a mental illness, but how others treat him will vary greatly depending on factors such as the judge’s sanity standards and the context in which the diagnosis is made.
When bragging, he frequently mentions his acuteness of the sense and the ease with which he achieved his objectives (Poe 64). As a result, his victim never receives his human characteristics and is treated as an object, such as an eye. The only part of the old man’s face or body that stood out was his eye, which was quite distinct (Poe 65). Believing he could hear the old man’s beating heart indicates his insanity (Poe 66). Additionally, he seems to enjoy his actions and lying to the policemen, which only a person with mental problems could do.
Patience
Finally, the narrator is patient, a character shown in his quest to get rid of the old man’s eye. He had a good sense of right and wrong and understood the consequences of his actions (Poe 64). He went to great lengths to conceal the elderly man’s body, as evidenced by his removal of body parts and subsequent burial beneath the floor. He had waited long, planning to murder the old man and achieve his goals. Once he completes the murder, he takes time to convince the police of his innocence instead of running away. His patients had joined with pride and gave him an upper hand, even in staging the crime.
Conclusion
Conclusively, the author of the story “The Tell-Tale Heart” makes good use of internal monologue, which lays out the characters of pride, insanity, and patience. The story delves into the narrator’s internal conflict and demonstrates the insanity in the narrator’s subconscious. The narrator tells the story pridefully, showing superiority in actions and functions. Finally, his long waiting for the right time to kill the old man shows patience. While the results of these traits in murder, the story shows that when people have ideas repeating in their minds, they believe them and become determined to bring them into reality.
Work Cited
Poe, Edgar, A. The tell-tale heart. Discis, 1983.