"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe: The Use of Imagery and Literary Devices

Edgar Allen Poe was born 1809 and is one of the most highly regarded authors of all time. Poe, an author of many works, has been subject to countless criticisms and attempts to analyze his work. However it can be difficult to understand an author with the qualities of people we don’t fully understand. Poe was an addict, an alcoholic and an incestuous person (although this was not a common trait). He was also a murderer, at least in his short stories. Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" is one example. It depicts Poe killing someone. Poe used imagery, strong irony and similes in this story to demonstrate that people cannot deal with guilt and are willing to reveal the truth.

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First, when a person reads "The Tell-Tale Heart", there are many types of imagery. Poe speaks of the "pale blue eye" with a film covering it. This is the first instance of imagery. However, the eye's color represents innocence. The film and the eye that covers it are both representations of guilt. A person who feels guilty can feel guilty because everyone around them knows it. In Poe's instance, it made his "blood run chilly." This story is psychosexual and Poe was both a sadomasochist and a participant in voyeurism (Dayon 225). This suggests to me that Poe was obsessed with the old man's movements and enjoyed the thrill of spying on him. Poe could have seen the old man do things he shouldn't. Poe might have disliked the eye because it was always open, which would make Poe's taboo fantasy more difficult to realize.

Gita Rajan's paper on a feminist reading "The Tell-Tale Heart" suggests that she believes the character in Poe’s story to be a woman. It is unlikely that Poe was openly homosexual, so it seems more plausible that the character be female. Although this doesn't alter the story, it does make the idea more intriguing. But why did Poe murder him? Magdalen Wingchi Ki's paper on ego-evil states that Poe was the victim of the most common evil excuse. Ego-evil is defined as "the elevation of self love" (Ki 25). Poe felt so good about himself that it was more important than the murder. Another illustration that illustrates how Poe hated his eye for being always open is: "It opened---wide, wide open--and I grew furious as it gazed at me." Why would Poe be so mad about the open eye? It kept Poe from achieving his dream.

Poe also starts the old man while he is asleep and is then frozen to prevent him from being captured by the "Vulture". "Death, as he approached him, had stalked before him with his black shadow and enveloped him." This imagery can also be seen to be foreshadowing. This quote may refer to death as guilt, I think. The guilt that the old man might have carried with him everywhere he went had probably consumed him. Finally, when Poe is held responsible for all of the guilt in the story, we can see that he still uses imagery as a way to describe the sounds guilt makes. "It was a low and dull sound, much like a watch that is wrapped in cotton makes." (More about that later.)

Irony is one of the most prominent literary devices Poe employs in his stories. While one might not associate irony with the imagery in the first two examples and the connection they have to guilt, the third example shows that the guilt Poe believed the old man had was ironic to his own. Poe walked into the room and saw the death watches. They were beetles that infest timbers. The clicking sound was believed to indicate death. Ironically, it proved to be true. Poe quickly decides to kill the old man after hearing the death watches.

Irony is also present in the dismemberment of the body. Poe decides that the body should be kept in the house. Poe decided to keep the body inside the house, even though the purpose of his killing was to get rid of the open eye. Irony is also evident in the story's beginning. "I heard everything in heaven and on earth. I heard many things in Hell. "How, then, can I be mad?" Poe fails to recognize that he suffers from a physiological disorder, even though we (the readers), see that he isn’t your typical man.

Poe tries to convince the reader that he's not mad as the story progresses. He tries to persuade you that he is not mad even after he kills the old man. Mad men wouldn’t be so clever in a crime. Ironically, this is because Poe is insane. But is the old man the only victim? Paul Witherington, who wrote "The Accomplice" in "The Tell-Tale Heart", says there are two victims to this story. Poe and the old man are both victims. The murder of the old man was what happened, while Poe's mental illness is also a factor (Witherington 472). Poe could have made this character mentally ill in order to "juice up" his story. But, nothing is easy with Poe. Poe wants us to reconsider our perception of mad men. Poe wants us to see that a person can plan and execute the things they want to do.

You fancy me mad. Madmen don't know anything. You should have seen me. You should have seen me at work. With what wisdom, with what foresight and with what dissimulation. He was not mad, but a cunning criminal. Or that's what he wants us to believe.

Finally, Poe uses similes to describe things and allow us to visualize it in our heads. "It is still dark as midnight," this quote was after the death and the time. "One of his eyes looked like a vulture." This simile describes the appearance of the eye of the old man. Poe removed the descriptor because it was too descriptive. Similes add quality to the poem, in my opinion. Irony is a powerful tool for building the story, imagery, and similes can add "flavor” to the story. Without the simile, the story wouldn't have the "vulture eye".

Edgar Allan Poe is undoubtedly one of the most important horror fiction writers of all time. His use of literary devices such as imagery, irony and similes makes him stand out from the rest. Stephan King was also an excellent Horror fiction writer. This Story was chosen to be analyzed because it is interesting to see how "madmen" can commit crimes in unique ways. I enjoy the Saw series. While it may seem gruesome to many, his clever traps are unique to me. He and Poe don’t believe that they are madmen. They think free and wrong.

The Tell-Tale Heart: Literary Devices and Themes

Edgar Allan Poe wrote a short story called 'The Tell-Tale Heart' in 1843. This piece focuses on the story of an unnamed character who suffers from psychosis and attempts to prove his sanity. Poe allows readers to see the protagonist's mind and experience his struggle with anxiety. As the story progresses, the narrator becomes obsessed with the old man’s 'vulture-like’ eye and plans to rid his body of this evil. He kills the man and dismembers his body before hiding it under the floorboards. The ringing that the narrator attributed to the old man's heartbeat would have allowed him to escape the police investigation.

The story highlights the struggle of man with psychological conditions as one of its main themes. The unnamed character in the story attempts to claim that he is not sick, but that his extreme nervousness is due to the increase in his senses, especially his hearing (Poe 1). Although this may seem true, the protagonist's inability to recognize his condition causes him to focus on the eyes of the elderly man he cares for, and ultimately, to kill the person. The story's author uses vivid and direct language to convey the psychosis felt by the protagonist.

An important theme to consider when analysing Poe's work is the contradictions in the narrator’s motivation to murder. He is not only psychologically unstable, but he doesn't have the motivation to kill the old man. Mikansek 1 says that the story doesn't show his particular interest in wealth or hatred for the old man. This led to the obsession and fixation of the narrator about the old man, "evil eye", as the source of the idea. The murder is planned by the narrator to relieve the man of his burden. The narrator did not realize that this would be murder. However, the vulture-like eyes that he claims to have seen are still evil. This is an important part of his identity and that of the man he loves.

Poe's piece uses a variety of literary devices to communicate his ideas to the readers. This can be done by using symbolism. The story's heartbeat represents the individual's consciousness, telling him about the error in his murder of the old man. Poe's works also show vivid imagery and sound through words. The dramatic depiction of the crime scene was written in dramatic style and is based on the persona's thoughts and feelings. These add depth to the story, and allow readers to discover the exploits of the character even though they are written from the point of view of an insane man.

The Tell Tale-Heart is an Edgar Allan Poe dark tale that explores the extreme actions of an insane man. Readers can see his transformation through the eyes of the narrator. They also learn how his obsession with the old man's deformity led to his extreme nervousness. He recognizes that he has an obligation to get rid of the 'evil eyes' from the old man and so he pursues murder. It validates his insaneness.