The Tell-Tale Heart Cover Image

Analysis Pages

Literary Devices in The Tell-Tale Heart

In 1836, Poe wrote an essay chosen "The Philosophy of Composition," in which he proposed a theory about writing which claimed that a "unity of effect" distinguished something equally good writing. The unity of event claims that a work of fiction should elicit an emotional response from the reader that is meticulously orchestrated by the author. Writers therefore have to make specific choices almost tone, word choice, theme, setting, disharmonize, and plot. Every element of a story was made to propel the story forward. For this reason, the style, grade, and tone are of import literary devices in "The Tell-Tale Heart." The sentences are inclement and disjointed to show the narrator's scattered mind; frequent repetition demonstrates his obsessive nature, and his tendency to interrupt himself mid-judgement shows his illogical thinking patterns. The story begins in medias res, in the middle of a narrative, with the narrator confessing his crimes to an unknown person, and by extension the reader. This device draws the reader into the text. We unwittingly become his confidant as the narrative forces us into the mind of a madman.

Literary Devices Examples in The Tell-Tale Heart:

The Tell-Tale Eye

🔒 16

"no..." See in text(The Tell-Tale Centre)

Notice that the narrator does not tell us exactly what he did to leave no trace of the old man'southward murder, simply instead he focuses on absences. His repetition of "no" focuses on his ability to erase the old man instead of showing his audience his actual actions.

Subscribe to unlock »

"but as I take done..." Come across in text(The Tell-Tale Heart)

"Just as I have done" could refer to the narrator listening to the death watches in the old human being'south room over the by eight nights. Nevertheless, it could also signify that the narrator has been sitting up in his own bed similarly contemplating his own death night after night before he hatched his program to kill the onetime man.

Subscribe to unlock »

"louder—louder—louder!..." See in text(The Tell-Tale Eye)

Find how Poe uses repetition at the end of the story to show the narrator'due south descent into insanity. Whereas at the beginning of the story, the style and the content are in tension, now the manner and the content mirror each other. The narrator is no longer claiming his sanity.

Subscribe to unlock »

"sentry ..." Run across in text(The Tell-Tale Centre)

Here the motif of the watch appears to symbolize fourth dimension moving forward. While the narrator was able to conflate hours of the day and symbolically stop time after he killed the old man, he is now unable to block out the sound of the heartbeat which he compares to a ticking clock. Time has symbolically started and he one time once again realizes that he is moving towards death.

Subscribe to unlock »

"corpse..." See in text(The Tell-Tale Heart)

Find the item that the narrator uses to tell us that he removed all humanity from the old homo. He is at present a "corpse"; he is fragmented into parts. In highlighting the physical dissolution of the old homo'southward body, Poe is able to signal to the reader that the beating centre is in the narrator'south head.

Subscribe to unlock »

"must take been..." See in text(The Tell-Tale Center)

Whereas before in the story the narrator presumed to take omniscient knowledge of what the old man was thinking, here he can only assume what the old homo thinks. In the moments leading up to the old human being's death, the narrator stops identifying with the old man.

Subscribe to unlock »

"watch ..." Encounter in text(The Tell-Tale Heart)

The narrator reinvokes the motif of the spotter in order to compare information technology to the quondam man's heartbeat. Using this comparison, the narrator links the picket, a symbol of fourth dimension, to the heartbeat, a symbol of life. In this way, time and lifespan becomes inextricably intertwined.

Subscribe to unlock »

"very, very..." See in text(The Tell-Tale Middle)

Find how Poe uses repetition to create intensity and build tension within the story. The narrator continuously insists that he is not mad; nevertheless, with this abiding repetition, Poe creates a frenzied tone that suggests the narrator is less stable than he claims.

Subscribe to unlock »

"vulture center...." See in text(The Tell-Tale Heart)

Vultures are birds that feed on dead carcasses and get together around sick or injured animals in apprehension of their death. Vultures are a symbol of coming death or immanent decease. In characterizing the middle as a "vulture," the eye becomes a symbolic omen of decease. This suggests that the original thought that collection the narrator to impale the old man is his fearfulness of death.

Subscribe to unlock »

"victim..." See in text(The Tell-Tale Heart)

This depiction of Death demonstrates the narrator'southward fear of dying. That Death's victim is presented as powerless in the face of Death suggests the narrator feels the same helplessness. Recall that the narrator is suffering from an unknown affliction which may exist the source of his fear of decease.

Subscribe to unlock »

"Death..." See in text(The Tell-Tale Center)

The narrator personifies Decease as a character that maliciously stalks and and so kills. This description of Expiry mirrors the very actions that the narrator takes. The narrator in this sense attempts to embody his conception of Decease.

Subscribe to unlock »

"watch'due south minute hand..." Meet in text(The Tell-Tale Heart)

The "watch" is a motif that comes up four times throughout this story. Since a lookout man is both a physical and auditory reminder of time, this motif could symbolize the narrator'southward conscious understanding that his time is running out. Each time the watch is mentioned, or the watch ticks, the narrator remembers his own mortality.

Subscribe to unlock »

" it was not the old human being who vexed me..." Come across in text(The Tell-Tale Centre)

Discover that the narrator keeps insisting that he bore no ill will towards the sometime man. He keeps hinting at his motive to murder by invoking the symbol of the eye. However, this symbol continues to create suspense every bit the audition still does not know what idea the eye stands for.

Subscribe to unlock »

" you would..." See in text(The Tell-Tale Middle)

Notice that the address shifts hither. Whereas at the beginning of the story the narrator accuses the "you" of believing that he is mad, hither the narrator suggests that the "you lot" would be in bunco with his actions. The way in which the narrator addresses his audience, this unidentified "you," demonstrates his disconnection from reality.

Subscribe to unlock »

"I fabricated upwardly my mind..." Meet in text(The Tell-Tale Heart)

Notice that different the outset judgement of this paragraph, the narrator is actively deciding to impale the old man. This suggests that the "idea" that haunted him was not the determination to murder but something else almost the former man. Poe uses this ambiguity to create suspense every bit the reader will at present search for the narrator's motive.

Subscribe to unlock »

"but why volition you say that I am mad..." See in text(The Tell-Tale Center)

The essence of drama is disharmonize. Poe is making his narration dramatic by having an ongoing conflict between the mad narrator and whomever he is addressing. The narrator claims that he is completely sane, while the other party, or parties, maintain that he is mad. This disharmonize continues throughout the entire tale as the narrator endeavors to prove that he is sane and all the while proving just the very opposite.

Subscribe to unlock »

Assay Pages