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Dissecting ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ by Edgar Allan Poe
You fancy me mad
Due to its length, “The Tell-Tale Heart” is a very accessible tale for beginners to sink their metaphoric teeth into. Poe truly was a master of the form and I’m really savouring the little Poe spree I’m on at the moment.
Do you have a favourite Poe tale?
Taking apart the classics piece by piece is the only way to learn the deep lessons that will take you to the next level.
Spoilers abound from this point onwards…
A silent watch through the tale
I find it helpful to go slowly through the story and judge my reactions to it as a reader. This really helps me dive deeply into it. I take a wee pause after every paragraph and note down where I am as a reader. (Too much? Perhaps!)
The first sentence in the tale is a challenge. why will you say that I am mad?
We get the flavour of the tale right off the bat. Here is a man barely holding onto himself, being very nervous (those em dashes also give us a flavour of his mental state). This tone is held throughout the whole tale and gets more and more aggressive. He isn’t mad! Why would you say he’s mad!?
I heard many things in hell.
