The narrator frequently says that he is not mad, he thinks that the very idea of him being mad is obscene and he laughs at the idea.
‘Ha – would a madman have been so wise as this?’
Here the narrator says that he is not but in the first paragraph he says.
‘I heard all things in heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then I am mad.
He once again says that he is not mad but he is hearing things from heaven and hell so this surly means that narrator is mad.
When describing the eye Poe takes great care in explaining what the eye looks like and describes it in great detail, to do this Poe uses imagery.
‘One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture – a pale blue eye, with a film over it.’
This use of imagery creates a very clear image in one’s mind. When I was reading this story every time I herd mention of the old man I always instantly thought of his deformed eye. This makes the old man seem strange and evil.
The calculated nature of the crime makes it even more chilling along with the admission that there was no motive.
‘I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever.’ And ‘passion there was none’
The knowledge that he loved the old man takes away any compassion that the reader might feel for the murderer. A crime of passion or provocation can provide sympathy, but Edgar Allen Poe strips away any sympathy by describing a motiveless crime.
Another example of Poe using punctuation to create horror and suspense is.
‘Villain! I shrieked, dissemble no more! I admit the deed! – tear up the planks! – here, here! - It is the beating of his hideous heart!
The high number of pauses in the story just before the killer admits his gilt slows the reader down and keeps them in suspense until finally he confesses.
Edgar Allan Poe uses time throughout the whole story.
The length of time before the attack.
‘I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him.’
The pain stacking entrance into the bedroom.
‘I moved it slowly – very, very slowly’
The time taken over checking the body was dead.
‘I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there for many minuets’
All these examples show what a calculated murder this was. All through the story suspense is being built up until finally it is realised, Poe does this by explaining very slowly what he is doing and what he is thinking. He then builds up the suspense even more by talking and moving faster and faster.
‘ I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides’
After building up as much tensions as possible he hurries to commit the deed of killing the old man and confessing to the police offers.
The narrator is undone by his inability to control his own mind, he hears the beating of the old man’s heart, so real that he believes everyone can hear it. His behaviour becomes irrational and disturbed. From the narrator being slow and calculated the final paragraphs are speeded up. The sense of panic is increased and there is a lot of action.
‘ I arose and argued’
‘with violent gesticulations’
‘I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting’
This final moment of heightened language releases all the secrecy from the story thus realising all tension and suspense.
This story differs from its modern day equivalent by not relying on special effects, goriness or mass killings. Most modern day horror stories like scream create their horror by showing disgusting pictures of bodies, with big knifes sticking through the middle of them. While The tell tale heart relies on building up the tensions gradually, and it tells he reader what is going through the killers mind. The story also differs because Poe story is so calculated and cleaver, the killer thinks of every possible thing and covers up the crime seen masterfully, while in scream the killer just tries to kill as many people as possible while leaving them in the worst looking position he can master. In scream the killer is kept very mysterious but in The tell tale heart the killer is telling you the story and he tells the reader his pathetic reason for killing the old man.
In conclusion I think Poe’s creates an excellent horror story and I think the suspense created in his story is a great deal better than that of its modern day equivalent. The use of language, punctuation, direct address and his use of time all combine to give a excellent overall effect.