Critical Response on the story The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe Essay - 1

Critical Response on the story The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe - Essay Example â€Å"The Tell Tale Heart† depicts the extent to which a human being can go and the narrative serves to explain the reader that the narrator is not as mentally sound as he argues that he is. It also presents the complexity of the feelings of the narrator where he is unsure of his own feelings for the old man. The story begins with the explanation of the narrator that he is a perfectly well being but he deeply wishes to kill the old man that he lives with because of the fact that he has a pale blue eye. At the same time he also admits the fact that it is just the eye that is driving him angry and has made him desire to kill this man despite of the fact that the old man has never wronged him. He clearly explains that he has no desire for the old man’s money and nor is there any other motive behind the killing apart from the old man’s eye. He also claims the fact that he loves the old man and hence this serves to provide an explanation that the narrator is in a very complex state of mind and cannot identify his own feelings and perceptions about the world. His strong dislike for the eye can be seen when he says, â€Å"I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.† These lines explain the fact that the human soul does not matt er to him and just for the fact that he hates the old man’s eye, he wants to kill him. The narrator plans to carry out the murder and he designs a plot and strategy for that. He explains the fact that since he planned the murder so well, he cannot be called insane as no insane person would be so intelligent. Though he claims that he is mentally well, but his acts in the story clearly present the reality that he is not well. He is obsessed with killing the old man and he has a desire to kill him while he is awake so that before his killing he can see his eye which is the main motive behind the murder. He waits complete seven days only for the fact that the old man opens his eye so that