The Tell-Tale Heart: Summary
Edgar Allan Poe's 1843 Short Story about Murder and Insanity
The narrator begins the story by admitting that he is nervous yet he denies the fact that he is insane. He believes his disease heightens his senses and has in no way impaired his judgment. He claims that his heightened senses allow him to hear things in heaven, earth, and hell. He provides further evidence of his sanity by calmly telling us the “whole story.”
Vulture's Eye
He admits that doesn’t know why he decided to kill the man. There was no passion in his plan to murder the old man whom he loved. He did not want the old man’s money. The narrator abruptly interrupts his own list of denials to claim that it was the old man’s eye, which in his mind resembled a vulture’s eye that caused him to decide on murder.
Guilty but Sane
The narrator returns to his original denial of insanity. He defends his sanity by describing how ‘wise’ and ‘cautious’ he was as he prepares for the murder. He allays the old man’s suspicions by being overly considerate. Every night, he sneaks into the room at midnight to check on the old man, waiting for the opportunity to execute his plan. For the first seven nights, the old man’s eye is closed. As a result, he doesn’t commit the crime because it was not the old man he wishes to kill but the Evil Eye.
On the eighth night, his opportunity arose. He describes how he was even more cautious than on previous nights and that he could feel the extent of his powers.’ He describes how he moved so slowly that a watch’s minute hand moved more quickly than his own. The narrator was so full of himself and his dream of success that he nearly chuckled to himself. He wonders if perhaps he did because just then the old man shifted in bed suddenly as if startled.
Rather than flee, the narrator holds still because he knows the old man cannot see him in the dark. His thumb slips and scrapes on the light fastening, alerting the old man who calls out.
Deathwatches in the Wall
The narrator continues in silence, claiming that he does not move a muscle for a whole hour. During that hour, he never hears the old man settle back down to sleep. He is sure the old man is lying in bed listening just has he himself has often done night after night listening to the ‘deathwatches in the wall.”
At this point, the narrator goes into great detail about how he himself had experienced night terrors. He super-imposes his own fears on the old man as he describes the situation. Finally, he lets a single ray of light slip from the lamp. The beam shoots out and lights the old man’s open eye. The sight of the eye incites the narrator to take action.
He describes how he hears the beating of the old man’s heart. “It increased my fury as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier to courage.” The old man screams in terror. The narrator jumps into the room with a yell, drags the old man off the bed, and smothers him beneath the bed.
He describes how he hides the body beneath the floorboards of the chamber. Just as he completes his task, the doorbell rings. It is four in the morning and the police have arrived after being alerted by a neighbor who heard the scream.
The Sound of Death
The narrator is confident that he will not be discovered and claims the scream was his own and that he made it during a bad dream. He also mentions that the old man is away in the country. He allows them to search the house, taking them into the old man’s room. He seats them on chairs with his own directly over the old man’s corpse. He carries on the lengthy conversation, certain that he will not be discovered. However, he soon becomes restless and develops a headache. He fancies that he hears the sound of the old man’s heart. He becomes more and more agitated which certainly alerts the policemen to the fact that something is not right.
Finally, he feels that he must scream or die. He admits to the crime and tells the policemen to tear up the planks for hear is the ‘beating of his hideous heart!”
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