Within 'The tell-tale heart' the author has to convince the reader that the main character is mad

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Courtney Harris

Within ‘The tell-tale heart’ the author has to convince the reader that the main character is mad. How do they do this? What is most effective?

In this essay I will give details on the way the fictional character in ‘The tell-tale heart’ portrays his mad man image. The obvious signs of insanity can be; talking to your self, being in denial, being paranoid, hearing voices and seeing strange things. We will also see if these symptoms are similar with the main character in this short story

  Edgar Allan Poe, born in Boston, Jan. 19, 1809, died Oct. 7, 1849 in Baltimore. He produced some of the most influential work of his time. His started his road to being well known with the book called Tamerlane (paid for at his own expense). Poe's parents, David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins, were touring actors. They both died before he was 3 years old, and he was taken into the home of John Allan, a merchant in Richmond. His childhood was pretty dull but he did study for 5 years in the University of Virginia, he stayed there for 1 year. ‘Although a good student, he ran up large gambling debts that Allan refused to pay. Allan prevented his return to the university and broke off Poe's engagement to Sarah Elmira Royster’ (taken from http://bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/poe/Bio.html). The genre of this short story is gothic horror. The story is about an unnamed character who murders a man because he has an eye he dislikes. The man eventually gives in and confesses due to the constant noise of a heart beat coming from the dead body. As soon he hears the clocklike sound of the heart beat he starts getting on edge and uneasy, sounding even more crazy as time goes by.

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In the opening of the third paragraph he describes freely the way he plans to eradicate of ‘the old man’. He explains his plans with no remorse at all, with absolutely no regrets. He also seems to find the situation amusing. He enters the old mans room every night, he does this so when the time comes there will be no mistakes that could cause a failed opportunity. Every night he adds a new step to entering room so it is rehearsed and easy on the day. But the time it takes him to complete a single motion gives ...

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