Narrator Acts Like A Kid, Edgar Allan Poe is AWESOME!

EXTRA CREDIT:

           I just finished reading the Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe and let me tell you my mind is blown away. I did not read the whole book I’m just up to the 4^th or 5^th short story, but the mini short story titled The Tell-Tale Heart I read. Gosh, it was intense and incredible. It was one of those books that you take a couple of minutes after you read to absorb the details and then you go back to see a part you want to read again. If you have not read this book or short story you should! Go to B&N and buy it ASAP.  There are so many themes, character changes, traits, setting, descriptions, grammar, writing skills that I can write 10 page essays on, just wow. This book has inspired people; especially that short story and they have been drawn to the main character. The main character is so layered and detailed that it’s shocking. The thing is the story is only 4-5 pages long and I captivates the reader and intrigues us. The main character that does not have a name and is referred to as the narrator is naïve. He is like a little kid and he feels conflicted. He doesn’t know what he wants and uses his silly attempts that are fatal to acquire it.

In the story there is a guy who has a freaky blue eye with film over it. My guess is that it is an eye that is blind or something because the description makes it sound so ugly. Basically the whole idea is that this eye freaks out the narrator too much. The narrator feels as if the eye is always watching him, it is almost described as a mystical eye. The narrator watches the old man sleep in his bed everyday. Each night the narrator slowly peeps his head into the gap of the door just to watch the eye and try to freak it out. The reason he keep coming back is to see if the eye will get freaked out by knowing that someone is lurking in the shadows of the room, freaky I know right. He is described as being patient and determined. He is strong willed into murdering the eye. I don’t understand why he never told the guy to wear an eye patch and be done with the whole situation. The thing is the narrator feels so disturbed by the eye that he plans on killing the old man so he doesn’t have to see the eye. He does kill the guy. The weird thing is that the narrator acts like a little kid who’s in trouble. Remember when your little brother or sister used to break a vase or cup and they would try to fix it by cleaning it up and making it not look obvious but it totally was obvious and then mom used to come home and not saying anything about the vase being broken. Then out of nowhere the little brother or sister confesses and starts saying, “I broke the vase, I did it!” it’s like their consciousness gets the best of them and makes them feel guilty. That is exactly what happened to the narrator. The police came to investigate the murder of the guy with the freaky blue eye and asked the narrator if he knew anything, he lied straight to the police, they even sat down and had some tea in the room the old guy was murdered. Everything was going fine, the police didn’t even suspect anything and ruled murder out but that was until the narrator felt guilty and confessed his crime. He hid the heart of the old guy so well no one suspected a thing. He hid the heart in the planks of the wooden floor but that was until he started hearing the heart beat faster and faster as if the guy was still alive and of course this was in the narrator’s imagination but his conscious was so burdened he had to tell the police.

When the narrator confessed his crime out of guilt I felt bad. He would’ve gotten away with the murder and had a crazy murderous life but then the narrator realizes his mistake and feels horrible. The idea that he actually murdered the old guy eats at him until he can’t take it anymore. The narrator seems vulnerable at the end as if he didn’t full understand and realize the seriousness of his crime. The age of the narrator is never said but if it were a teenager of the age of 15 I would pity them. The narrator was so child like in his murder almost as if it were a joke to him until he was the last one laughing and realized he was wrong doer- a murderer.

             If you have not read this book I’m sorry for the spoilers but you should read the actual story. I am going to write another blog post on this story again, and most likely the overall book. If you did not know the book is scary and its about horror and crimes. Edgar Allan Poe was a very influential short story writer and his work helped the new generations write short stories and horror. He died of alcoholism and his work was written during the 1850’s.  He tried to make his living off of writing but people back then considered his work to be distasteful; his work was actually pretty advanced in his overall usage of writing skills. Alliterations were used the most throughout his stories. Many people now consider his work to be top-notch and it is very praised. Many and most likely all of his stories and poetry has been turn into movies, short films, and TV shows. He is an awesome writer- R.I.P.