Tell-Tale Heart: A Descent into Madness Edgar Allan Poe may be considered one of the founders of American Gothic Literature. His obsession with the macabre and his ability to explore the psychological repercussions of perceived danger inspired him to write various short stories including "The Pit and the Pendulum" and "The Tell-Tale Heart." In "The Tell-Tale Heart," Poe explores the events that lead the unnamed narrator to devise a plan to

Tell-Tale Heart The narrator of Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" intentionally mystifies the reader by demanding respect for his narratorial authority while constantly calling his own judgment and sensory perceptions into question. The effect is to create a sense of suspicion surrounding the narrator which is confirmed not when he murders the old man, but when he reveals the madness which causes him to hear the old man's

Even the narrator himself appears to be tensioned concerning his account on what happened in the murder room. Whereas his initial narrative is rather slow, he picks up the pace as the storyline progresses, showing that he is discomforted with the overall state of affairs. Although the narrator describes the chain of events leading to the murder and the crime itself as if he would transmit a confession, the fact

Tell-Tale Heart Philosophy of Composition in the "Tell-Tale Heart" The central elements of this philosophy used by Edgar Allan Poe are length, method, and unity of effect (Xroads 2013). In all of his works, he advises writers to follow a set of criteria for producing literature. These are to plan the written product from the beginning to the end of the literature before they embark into writing anything. The end should always

This short story, as well as Poe's other works, reveals his upbringing and focuses on sick mothers and guilty fathers. Gothic literature, the form of the short story, became known in Britain in the 18th century. It delves into the dark side of human experience and there finds death, alienation, nightmares, ghosts and haunted places. It was Poe who brought the literary form to America. American Gothic literature present a

It first appears when he shines the lantern's light on the old man's eye. It is the lantern shining on the eye that spurs him to kill, in contrast to the previous nights where the eye had remained closed. The beating heart is the narrator's response to the desire to kill -- a reminder that the old man is a human being. The narrator misinterprets the beating heart and kills