Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart"

           "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a poem in which a unnamed narrator insists he is sane yet suffers from a disease, or nervousness that causes "over-acuteness of the senses". The old man whom he lives with has a clouded, pale, blue "vulture-like" eye which so troubles the narrator that he plans to kill the old man. Although the narrator states that he loves the old man, and hates only the eye, he insists that his careful thought put into committing this murder proves that he cannot possibly be insane. Seven nights in a row, the narrator opens the door to the old man’s room however; the vulture eye is always closed making it impossible for the narrator to commit his crime. On the eighth night, the old man awakens and sits up in bed while the narrator once again goes to open his door. Only this time the narrator does not draw back. When he shines his lantern light onto old man's eye, it reveals that it is wide open. Hearing the old man's heart beating unusually fast from terror, the narrator decides to strike, jumping out with a loud yell and murdering the old man with his own bed. The narrator takes apart the body and nails the pieces under the floorboards, making certain to hide all signs pointing to the crime. Despite this however, the old man's scream during the night causes a neighbor to alert the police. The narrator invites the officers in to investigate as he claims that the screams heard were his own in a nightmare and that the man is away in the country. Certain that they will not find any evidence of the murder, the narrator brings chairs for them to sit on the very spot where the body is concealed, yet they suspect nothing, as the narrator is calm and composed. His coolness however, begins fade as he starts hearing a faint noise. As it grows louder and louder, he realizes it is the heartbeat of the old man coming from under the floorboards. Although the sound is drastically increasing the officers seem unbothered by it as if they don’t hear a thing. Shaken by the constant beating and an irritated feeling that not only are the officers aware of the sound, but that they also suspect him, the narrator confesses to killing the old man and tells them to tear up the floorboards to uncover the body.

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” had a very dark vibe to it. My question for Poe would be, if the narrator loved the old man why did they feel they needed to be rid of him and his vulture’s eye? Perhaps it was the narrator’s disease or hypersensitivity. The story implies that the narrator has gone mad, if not before, definitely after the murder simply cannot deal with the guilt. As the story progresses the narrator’s conscience is perhaps what it making the noise of the heartbeat. A theme is the story seems to be that a guilty conscience does not rest well with the soul.