Response to "The Tell-Tale Heart", by Edgar Allen Poe

In the story, "The Tell-Tale Heart", by Edgar Allen Poe there are many aspects for someone who is interested in the workings of the human mind. As you read this story you will see the breakdown of the human mind and how paranoia and insanity go hand in hand. Here is partial description in reference to the narrator's paranoia. The narrator sees the eyes of the old man as "that of a vulture - a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold" (Poe 922). Because of the old man's eye the narrator's paranoia makes him feel he must kill the old man to "rid myself of the eye forever" (Poe 922). Insanity is another psychological point which stands out, the narrator takes care of the old man seeing to his comforts and making sure he is okay all the while planning to kill him because of his eye. He relays the story of how for seven nights he has been trying to get up the courage to kill the old man he finally resolves to complete the task. On the eighth night he has finally come all the way into the room, he shines the lights in the room so he can see and the light immediately goes to the vulture eye. He starts hearing a sound which he knows is the beating of the old man's heart. He then relates that "have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over acuteness of senses" (Poe 923). This is showing his level of insanity has increased as no one can really hear the beating of the old man's heart. After he kills the old man he then goes on to tell us how he finished the murder. He wants to make sure we understand he is still not mad he knows exactly what he is doing. He dismembers the old man, buries him under the house and checks everything to make sure there is no evidence of any wrong. Just as he has completed these tasks the police knock on the door. The narrator proceeds to explain to the police the sound the neighbor heard was him. The old man has gone to the country; he shows them around the house to acknowledge that all is as it should be. He then sits down to talk with the police, and his insanity starts to manifests itself again as he hears the beating of the old man's heart. He can no longer stand the pressure and confesses to the murder.