Irrationality of Man in "The Essay

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Readers must confront the notion that the narrator is out of his mind and this changes the reading of the entire story.

The most compelling aspect of the story is the aspect of internal fear. Poe presents us with an irrational individual to highlight this kind of terror. Poe is a master at internal dialogue of the deranged and this narrator proves it. The mental drama that unfolds in our narrator's mind is chilling and it is enough to instill fear in us as we consider the possibility of this kind of individual. With him, Poe is feeding our fears and this is exactly what he intends to do. The mental anguish the narrator experiences as he watches the old man is exaggerated to make us consider what might be happening with him. As he determines it must be the man's extreme terror he is hearing it grows "louder, I say louder, every moment!" (191). Here, the narrator projects his conflict on the old man. The interesting thing here is that the narrator believes the old man senses death around the corner and is becomes afraid. Readers are surprised when the narrator kills him with ease and without fear. He does not hesitate nor does he waste time. He coolly maims the old man's body and the truly sickening aspect of the deed is that he seems to relish it. When he is finished, he exclaims, "Ha! ha!" (191), as if he has completed some honorary task worthy of an award.

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This act intensifies the story as readers realize this man is insane. Poe uses this irrationality to set the tone of the story. Fear and terror emerge from this one mind's mind and actions.

"The Tell-tale Heart" revolves around fear. Poe introduces us to a narrator that we feel we can trust. This is the first impression and we tend to go with those in everyday life situations. To build suspense, Poe increases this fear by increasing the irrationality of the narrator. This is a slow and steady process that allows the reader to be pulled into the story and the narrator's mind. This technique creates a chilling story but more importantly, it creates a horror story. The horror arises when readers realize the narrator tricks us into believing he is rational. This is the behavior of an unstable individual that is free and while we love our freedom, we do not like the idea of crazy killers running around in our neighborhoods.

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