Dawn
ENGL 3850-02N
Supernatural Lit
Dr. Coats
3 February, 1998
Poe Review 3: The Tell-Tale Heart
This story was different than Poe's other stories. It was scary, but in a scary humorous way. Instead of chilling one to the bone, this story made one laugh and still be somewhat scared at the same time.
The story that is being discussed is Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." The main character was either a fruitcake or has an obsessive-compulsive disorder or big time paranoia. I mean, who in their right mind would take an hour to put his head past the door into his uncles room? I know I don't have that kind of patience. And of course, he was arrogant also, so much so that he put the chairs for the police to sit in directly over the spot in which he buried the old man with the weird eye. Heck, the fact that he killed the old guy because the old guy had a weird fake eye is laughable. I mean, why couldn't he just ask the old guy to take it out or get a new one? Apparently he was just too afraid or too stupid to do so. The best part though, that confirmed that this guy had an enormous guilt complex or was schizophrenic (these people hear voices and other auditory hallucinations), was when he started hearing the heartbeat and it got louder and louder and louder until he went nuts and told the police sitting there where the old man was (under the planks of the room in which they were seated).
I think this story is a clear representation of Poe's morbid humor. I was laughing as much as I was being scared while reading this story. I do think that it is worthwhile to read "The Tell-Tale Heart," but beware that if you don't agree with Poe's humor, you'll think him to be a very sick individual (like he's never been thought of THAT way before).