Duration: 16:03

23 views

1

"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. The story is told from the perspective of an unnamed narrator who is trying to convince the reader that he is not insane, despite having just murdered an old man.

The narrator begins by explaining that he had no personal quarrel with the old man, but was driven to kill him by the man's "vulture eye," which he describes as pale blue and veiled by a film. The narrator obsesses over the eye and is haunted by it, leading him to plan and execute the murder.

After killing the old man, the narrator dismembers the body and hides it under the floorboards. However, he is tormented by the sound of the old man's beating heart, which he can still hear even though the man is dead. This sound becomes increasingly loud and overwhelming, until the narrator confesses his crime to the police in a fit of hysteria.

Throughout the story, the narrator's mental state deteriorates as he becomes more and more obsessed with the old man's eye and the sound of his beating heart. Poe's use of suspense, foreshadowing, and unreliable narration creates a sense of unease and dread in the reader, and the story's shocking twist ending leaves a lasting impression.

Overall, "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a chilling and psychologically intense story that explores themes of madness, guilt, and the dark side of human nature.