1.
The Telltale Heart
Edger
Allen Poe
Summary
The
tell tale heart is a tale of horror. It reflects psychology of a killer. He
kills an old man just because he does not like the old man’s vulture-like eye.
The reason is not sound enough for a murder. But the murderer is not a mad man.
He commits the murder concisely and very methodically. He goes to the old man’s
house around midnight with a muffled light. He pushes the bedroom door open
just a little and finds the man in his bed.
The
old man wakes up. The killer waits few minutes. Then he again peeps in and
finds the old man lying awake. He looks at the old man’s vulture eye with
disgust and bursts in. He pulls the old man off his bed and overturns the heavy
bed on him. In this way he suffocated the old man to death. Then he chops the
dead body into pieces and conceals the pieces under the wooden boards of the
floor.
Just
then three policemen enter the house. They ask questions about a cry that was
heard in the street. It came from the old man’s house. The killer tells them
that it might have been his own cry in a dream. He says the old man was not at
home and he had left him (the killer) to look after the house. He said he slept
in the house.
Then
suddenly the killer’s fear of detection gets the better of him, He hears the
old man’s heart beating loudly under the floor. The fear goes on growing
rapidly till the killer cries out in confession, declaring that he has killed
the old man. He is arrested and taken away .The story ends on a note of horror.
(291 words)
Discuss the elements of horror in the story “The Telltale Heart”.The story “The Telltale Heart” is a horror detective and crime story. Discuss.The Story “The Telltale Heart” is full of elements of horror. It also fulfils the requirements of a detective and crime story.
‘The
Telltale Heart’ has a frightening start as the killer has a strange motive for
the murder of the old man. The killer actually loves the old man and he has no normal
reason to kill him. He wants to kill him just because he does not like one of
his eyes. This motive of the killing
creates horror.
The
process of the killing also creates horror. When he went to kill the old man on
the eighth night, he was very proud of his sagacity. Therefore, he laughed
quietly and the old man heard him. He jumped on his bed with fear. It is very
horrible that the killer enjoyed the fear of the old man. When the reader reads
about the fear of the old man and the process of killing, he feels afraid.
We
find the most horrible situation when the killer dismembered the dead body to
conceal it. He cut off the head, the arms, and the legs. It is very horrible.
The way his conscience prick him is also very horrible. (290)
Discuss the elements of suspense in the story.
Suspense
starts from the start of the story. The start of the story is very sudden. The
word ‘nervous’ and ‘mad’ create a lot of suspense.
The
narrator of the story sets the reader to a task. He wants him to find out
whether he is mad or not. He keeps talking to the reader. He asks our opinion
repeatedly. He gives arguments in his favour and keeps the suspense alive until
the end of the story. This suspense is not satisfied. The reader is left to
guess whether the narrator is mad or not. This is first element of suspense.
When
the narrator kills the old man, the reader wants to know whether he will be
caught or not. When the police officers come, the suspense reaches the highest
point. This is the second element of suspense.
This
element of suspense is satisfied when the killer confesses to his crime.
Therefore, the story is full of suspense. (158)
Was the killer a mad man?Why did the killer kill the old man? Was he a mad man?
We can
rightly say that the killer was not mad, although he was very nervous and
sensitive. Perhaps he had some sort of psychological disorder. That disorder
had made him too sensitive.
He
tells the story in all its details. He went to the old man’s house around
midnight. He opened the door very carefully. But his hand slipped, and the
noise awakened the old man. He sat up in his bed, peering into the dark. The
killer waited for about an hour. But the old man did not lie down to sleep. It
seemed he was alarmed. The killer could not bear the suspense. He darted a thin
gleam of light on the old man’s face. It caught the vulture eye. The killer
flew into a fury. He pulled the old man down and smothered him to death under
the heavy bed. Then he chopped the body into pieces and concealed the pieces
under the wooden planks of the floor. He did all this dirty job very quietly
and neatly.
The
killer does the dirty job very cautiously and methodically. A mad man could not
have been so cool and cautious. So the killer cannot be regarded as a mad man.
But the reason for which he kills the old man is not sound enough for murder. A
normal man cannot commit murder for such a flimsy reason. Nobody in his senses
can kill a man just for his ugly appearance. Therefore the killer is not a
normal man in full possession of his senses. (224 words)
Discuss the title of the story. OR Why did the killer confess to his crime?Justify the title of the story. OR How was the murderer caught?
Confession
of the killer at the end of the story is very sudden and unexpected. However,
the title of the story suggests that the killer will make this confession. In
the title, “The Tell-Tale Heart” the word “heart” means the guilty conscience
of the killer. That “heart” forced him to confess to his crime.
At
the start of the story, the killer was very nervous. We find him sensitive too.
We see that after committing the crime he was quite satisfied and proud at his
work. He even laughed.
He
wanted to overcome the ringing of his ears, but could not. He feared that the police
officers might have heard the ringing.
He
thought that it was old man’s heartbeat. Actually, it was his guilty
conscience. Its pricking was unbearable. He said. However, anything was better
that this agony! I felt that I must ream of die.” And he screamed.
It
was all due to his heart or guilty conscience that he confessed to his crime.
The title of the story suggests this. (174 words)
How did the killer kill the old and how did he conceal the body?How did the killer execute the murder and conceal the dead body?
The killer
had been going to the old man’s room to kill him for seven nights. However, he
did not kill him because he found his eye close. Actually, he wanted to kill
the old man because he did not like one of his eyes. That eye was very ugly.
On
the eighth night, he was very cautious in opening the door. He opened the door
very slowly. He was proud of his sagacity. Therefore, he laughed quietly and
the old man heard him. He moved on his bed. When he was about to open the
lantern, his thumb sloped, and the old man sprang up in the bed. He started
enjoying the fear of the old man and he chuckled again. He threw a thin ray of
light on the old man’s eye. It was open. However, he delayed in killing the old
man. Then suddenly with a loud yell, he jumped into the room. The old man
shrieked. The killer dragged him onto the floor and pulled the heavy bed over
him. When the old man died, he removed the bed. He tried to feel the heartbeat
of the old man’s heart. He was dead.
To
conceal the dead body first he dismembered it. He cut off the head, the arms,
and the legs. He took up planks from the flooring of the room. He put the dead
body in the hole and then replaced the planks. Therefore, in this way he killed
the old man and concealed the dead body. (253)
What is the lesson or moral of the story?
The
lesson or moral of the story “The Tell-Tale Heart” is that a criminal cannot
conceal his crime and subdue the voice of his conscience. It is impossible to
ignore it s pricking for long.
When
we read the story carefully, we find that the killer is quite satisfied after
killing the old man. In fact, he is proud of his successful work. He has killed
the old man in the safest way. There is no blood spot. He had also concealed
the dead body under the flooring. No one can detect anything wrong. Therefore,
he laughs ha! Ha! Everything is all right. He is rather enjoying.
When
the police officers come, he receives them with complete peace of mind. He is
confident that there is nothing to fear. He satisfies them that nothing wrong
has happened. He tells a lie. He tells them that the old man is not present. He
also tells them that he shrieked in his dream. Now the police officers are
satisfied.
Suddenly,
he grows pale. Now he wants to get rid of the police officers. He feels
headaches. He imagines a ringing in his ears. This ringing becomes louder. He
is so nervous that he says, “Oh God! What could I do?” He talks wildly. He
swears. He grates the chair on the floor just to overcome the ringing, but
cannot. He fears that the police officers may hear this ringing. He thinks that
it is the sound of old man’s heartbeat. Actually, it is his guilty conscience.
Its pricking is unbearable. He says, “But anything was better that this agony!”
he further says, “I felt that I must scream or die.” And he screams. It is all
due to his heart or guilty conscience that he confesses to his crime. The title
of the story suggests that. (304)
Discuss the atmosphere of the story.There is an atmosphere of horror and suspense in the story “The Tell-Tale Heart”. Comment.
To create the atmosphere of horror first the
writer presents the motive of the murder. The killer did not want to kill the
old man because of some object or passion. The killer loved the old man. The
old man had never wronged him. He had not insulted him. The killer had no
desire for the old man’s gold. The height of cruelty was that he wanted to kill
the old man for one of his eyes. This motive of the killing creates horror.
The
process of the killing also creates horror. When he went to kill the old man on
the eighth night, he was very proud of his sagacity. Therefore, he chuckled and
the old man heard him. He moved on his bed. It is very horrible that the killer
enjoyed the fear of the old man. Then he yelled and jumped into the room. The
old man shrieked with terror. The killer dragged the old man to the floor, and
pulled the heavy be over him. When the old man died, he removed the bed and
tried to feel the heartbeat of the old man. When the reader reads about the
fear of the old man and the process of killing, he feels afraid.
We
find him most horrible situation in the story when the killer dismembered the
dead body to conceal it. He cut off the head, the arms, and the legs. It is
very horrible. We feel near nausea. How cruel the killer is! His own condition
after committing the murder and the way his conscience pricked him are also
very horrible.
We
find the atmosphere of suspense right from the start of the story. The start of
the story is very sudden. The word ‘nervous’ and ‘mad’ create a lot of suspense.
The writer sets the reader to a task. He wants him to find out whether he is
mad or not. He keeps talking to the reader and asks his opinion repeatedly. He
gives arguments in his favour and keeps the suspense alive until the end of the
story. When he commits the crime, the reader wants to know whether he will be
caught or not. When the police officers come, the suspense reaches the highest
point. This suspense is satisfied when the killer himself confesses to his
crime. Therefore, there is an atmosphere of horror and suspense in the
story.(398 words)
Want these notes in Word or PDF format for free download?
You may ask for these notes in the comments. I will email you the same.
Or you may give us your email address here for these notes to be E-mailed to you.
Note you will get a free E-Book when you give us your email address for mailing you the notes.
