Skip to main content

What two character traits does the narrator demonstrate in "The Tell-Tale Heart"?

Two traits of the narrator are insanity and paranoia. 

That the narrator is insane is very clear.  You can tell he is insane because he thinks that his roommate has an evil eye.  Then he kills him.  People who kill their roommates because they have vulture eyes are not sane. 



I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye … but I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye.  



The narrator thinks that his roommate has an evil eye and opens the door every night for a week to look at it.  Then he kills him, and then chops him up and hides him under the floorboards.  This would be bad enough, but then the paranoia is his undoing. 


The narrator is also paranoid, or overly afraid, because he thinks that the old man’s heart is still beating after his death.  The narrator lets the police in and leads them to the spot where he hid the old man.  He keeps them there and talks to them, thinking he is being sly.  He hears a heart beating, however, and he is sure they can hear it too. 



Almighty God! --no, no! They heard! --they suspected! --they knew! --they were making a mockery of my horror!-this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision! 



The narrator’s paranoia gets the better of him, and he confesses.  You can see how the two traits, the insanity and paranoia, work together to create the plot here.  If the narrator wasn’t crazy and paranoid, he wouldn’t have killed his roommate and hidden him under the floorboards and then confessed to the police. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the meaning of "juggling fiends" in Macbeth?

Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a... Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a sense of guilt, and that man tells him: Despair thy charm. And let the angel whom thou still hast serve...
Post a Comment
Read more

Discuss movements that were inspired by the Civil Rights Movement and list one success for each group.

African-Americans contributed in a very big way during World War II. These contributions were demonstrated at home and on the battlefield. After the war, African-Americans properly felt it was time for them to achieve equality with white Americans. During the 1950's, the modern Civil Rights Movement was born and it had a number of successes (integration of the military and Brown vs. Board of Education as examples.) This success inspired other activists to demand change... African-Americans contributed in a very big way during World War II. These contributions were demonstrated at home and on the battlefield. After the war, African-Americans properly felt it was time for them to achieve equality with white Americans. During the 1950's, the modern Civil Rights Movement was born and it had a number of successes (integration of the military and Brown vs. Board of Education as examples.) This success inspired other activists to demand change for their agendas. Two examples of moveme...
Post a Comment
Read more

Follow the relationship between Pi and Richard Parker. They endure over two hundred days of hardship together, but in the end Richard Parker leaves...

When Pi and Richard Parker are at the beginning of their journey, after Pi's family is killed in the shipwreck, Pi fears Richard Parker, but he is forced to find a way to co-exist with him in order to survive.  Over time the two develop a somewhat co-dependent relationship.  Richard Parker depends on Pi to feed him by catching fish, while Pi's will to live is bolstered by Richard Parker's presence.  Richard Parker recognizes that... When Pi and Richard Parker are at the beginning of their journey, after Pi's family is killed in the shipwreck, Pi fears Richard Parker, but he is forced to find a way to co-exist with him in order to survive.  Over time the two develop a somewhat co-dependent relationship.  Richard Parker depends on Pi to feed him by catching fish, while Pi's will to live is bolstered by Richard Parker's presence.  Richard Parker recognizes that he also needs Pi to survive.  At one point in the book, Pi's starvation and thirst reduce him to a st...
Post a Comment
Read more