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“True! –nervous –very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?”

This is the first piece of writing by Edgar Allen Poe that I have ever read, and I absolutely loved it. One thing that really spoke to me in this short story was the way it was narrated. the narrator tells the story like he is trying to convince someone (or himself) that he is not insane, that he is mentally stable and perfectly fine. The clever part of this that I really enjoyed is that as he tells his story and attempts to justify himself he unknowingly proves to the reader that he is indeed insane. His obsession with the man’s white eye as well as his violent solution to the so-called “problem” show that his sanity is not intact, and yet the narrator firmly believes the opposite. The narration was emotional and detailed and overall very well-written.

My favorite thing about this story was the ending. I won’t give it away, but I will say that it proved to me that the narrator is insane. It wraps up everything in a way that is both satisfactory and mysterious, and it is brilliantly clever. The narrator’s boastful demeanor and his obsession with the crime he has committed cause the scenario to backfire on him, which is why I think the ending is so fascinating. If he had only remained calm and kept it together, then everything most likely would have been fine. In a way he sabotaged himself.

Overall, “The Tell-Tale Heart” was a fantastic story and an excellent start to Poevember. Let’s hope Poe’s other stories are great as well!

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) :0) :0) 5 out of 5 smileys.

Would I recommend it to a friend?: Absolutely!

Yours,

HOLLY