The Tell-Tale Heart (Poe): Difference between revisions

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The Tell-Tale Heart

1843

Summary of the Short Story

Microsummary: A caretaker, haunted by an elderly man's pale eye, watched him sleep for eight nights before killing him. After hiding the dismembered body, he confessed when phantom heartbeats tormented him.

Short Summary

In an old house, presumably in the mid-19th century, a man became obsessed with an elderly man's pale blue eye, which reminded him of a vulture's eye.

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The Narrator — narrator, male of unspecified age, mentally unstable yet methodical, claims to be sane despite showing clear signs of paranoia and obsession, nervous and hypersensitive.

For eight nights, he crept into the old man's room at midnight, shining a thin ray of light on the dreaded eye, but found it closed. On the eighth night, the old man woke up and sat in terror for an hour. When the narrator finally saw the eye open, he killed the old man, dismembered the body, and hid the pieces under the floorboards.

When police officers arrived to investigate a reported shriek, the narrator confidently welcomed them and led them through the house. As they sat chatting in the old man's room, directly above the hidden corpse, the narrator began hearing the sound of a heartbeat growing louder and louder. Driven mad by the sound that the officers seemed not to hear, he finally broke down.

Villains! I shrieked, dissemble no more! I admit the deed! — tear up the planks! — here, here! — it is the beating of his hideous heart!

Detailed Summary

Chapter divisions added by editors.

The Narrator's Obsession

A man insisted he was not mad, but rather blessed with heightened senses, particularly his acute hearing.

True! — nervous — very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses — not destroyed — not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute.

He lived with an old man whom he claimed to love, never having been wronged by him. However, the old man's pale blue eye, covered by a film, haunted the narrator. This 'vulture eye' filled him with such dread that he resolved to kill the old man to rid himself of it forever.

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The Old Man — elderly male victim, has a pale blue 'vulture eye' with a film over it, wealthy, lives alone with the narrator, appears to trust his caretaker despite mounting fear.

The Eight Nights of Watching

For seven consecutive nights, the narrator crept into the old man's room at midnight. With extreme caution, he opened the door and inserted a dark lantern through the gap. Each time, he found the old man sleeping with his eye closed, preventing him from completing his deadly mission.

It was open — wide, wide open — and I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect distinctness — all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in my bones.

On the eighth night, while performing his ritual, the narrator's thumb slipped on the lantern's fastening, alerting the old man. The old man sat up in bed, crying out, "Who's there?" For an hour, both men remained frozen - one sitting in bed, listening intently, the other standing in the darkness, waiting.

The Murder

Finally, the narrator heard what he believed to be the old man's heartbeat growing increasingly loud. The sound drove him to such frenzy that he feared neighbors might hear it. In a fit of panic, he burst into the room with his lantern and killed the old man, pulling the heavy bed over his body.

But the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst. And now a new anxiety seized me — the sound would be heard by a neighbor! The old man's hour had come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern.

After ensuring the old man was dead, the narrator methodically dismembered the body and concealed it beneath the floorboards of the chamber. He worked with such precision that no blood stains remained visible.

The Police Investigation

At four in the morning, three police officers arrived to investigate a reported shriek. The narrator confidently welcomed them, explaining that he had shouted during a dream and that the old man was away in the country.

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The Police Officers — three male law enforcement officers who investigate the premises after a neighbor reports hearing a shriek, polite and initially unsuspecting.

And now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over acuteness of the senses? — now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton.

As the officers chatted casually, the narrator began to hear what he believed was the dead man's heartbeat growing louder beneath the floorboards. The sound increased in volume until, driven mad by guilt and fear, he confessed to the murder and begged the officers to tear up the planks and find the body.

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 {{Summary
 | Title = The Tell-Tale Heart
+| Subtitle =
+| Original Title =
 | Author = Edgar Allan Poe
 | Literary form = short story
 | Year of publication = 1843
-| Microsummary = A man obsessed with an old man's disturbing eye decided to kill him. After carefully planning and executing the murder, he hid the body under floorboards. Eventually, he confessed to the police.
+| Microsummary = A caretaker, haunted by an elderly man's pale eye, watched him sleep for eight nights before killing him. After hiding the dismembered body, he confessed when phantom heartbeats tormented him.
-| Wikidata = Q762206
+| Character count = 11368
-| Wikisource = Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination/The Tell-Tale Heart
+| Emoji = 💓
 }}
 {{Start of text}}
-A man, who insisted he was not mad, became obsessed with an old man's disturbing "vulture eye." He could not explain how the idea first entered his mind, but once it did, it haunted him day and night. He had no reason to hate the old man, as he had never wronged or insulted him. The man's obsession with the old man's eye grew, and he decided to take the old man's life to rid himself of the eye forever.
-In "The Tell-Tale Heart," there are two main characters: the narrator and the old man.
+== Short Summary ==
+In an old house, presumably in the mid-19th century, a man became obsessed with an elderly man's pale blue eye, which reminded him of a vulture's eye.
 {{Character
 | Name = The Narrator
-| Description = narrator; obsessed with the old man's eye; insists he is not mad; meticulous planner and murderer; increasingly agitated and paranoid
+| Description = narrator, male of unspecified age, mentally unstable yet methodical, claims to be sane despite showing clear signs of paranoia and obsession, nervous and hypersensitive
-| Emoji = 😨
+| Emoji = 😰
 }}
+For eight nights, he crept into the old man's room at midnight, shining a thin ray of light on the dreaded eye, but found it closed. On the eighth night, the old man woke up and sat in terror for an hour. When the narrator finally saw the eye open, he killed the old man, dismembered the body, and hid the pieces under the floorboards.
+When police officers arrived to investigate a reported shriek, the narrator confidently welcomed them and led them through the house. As they sat chatting in the old man's room, directly above the hidden corpse, the narrator began hearing the sound of a heartbeat growing louder and louder. Driven mad by the sound that the officers seemed not to hear, he finally broke down.
+{{Quote|
+Villains! I shrieked, dissemble no more! I admit the deed! — tear up the planks! — here, here! — it is the beating of his hideous heart!
+}}
+== Detailed Summary ==
+''Chapter divisions added by editors.''
+=== The Narrator's Obsession ===
+A man insisted he was not mad, but rather blessed with heightened senses, particularly his acute hearing.
+{{Quote|
+True! — nervous — very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses — not destroyed — not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute.
+}}
+He lived with an old man whom he claimed to love, never having been wronged by him. However, the old man's pale blue eye, covered by a film, haunted the narrator. This 'vulture eye' filled him with such dread that he resolved to kill the old man to rid himself of it forever.
 {{Character
 | Name = The Old Man
-| Description = victim of the narrator's crime; has a disturbing "vulture eye"; unknowingly provokes the narrator's obsession and eventual murder
+| Description = elderly male victim, has a pale blue 'vulture eye' with a film over it, wealthy, lives alone with the narrator, appears to trust his caretaker despite mounting fear
 | Emoji = 👴🏻
 }}
-The man carefully planned and executed the murder. He was never kinder to the old man than during the week before he killed him. Every night, he would sneak into the old man's room and observe him while he slept. He did this for seven nights, but each time, the old man's eye was closed, making it impossible for him to carry out his plan. On the eighth night, the man was more cautious than ever, and when he finally saw the old man's eye open, he became furious.
+=== The Eight Nights of Watching ===
+For seven consecutive nights, the narrator crept into the old man's room at midnight. With extreme caution, he opened the door and inserted a dark lantern through the gap. Each time, he found the old man sleeping with his eye closed, preventing him from completing his deadly mission.
+{{Quote|
+It was open — wide, wide open — and I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect distinctness — all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in my bones.
+}}
+On the eighth night, while performing his ritual, the narrator's thumb slipped on the lantern's fastening, alerting the old man. The old man sat up in bed, crying out, "Who's there?" For an hour, both men remained frozen - one sitting in bed, listening intently, the other standing in the darkness, waiting.
+=== The Murder ===
+Finally, the narrator heard what he believed to be the old man's heartbeat growing increasingly loud. The sound drove him to such frenzy that he feared neighbors might hear it. In a fit of panic, he burst into the room with his lantern and killed the old man, pulling the heavy bed over his body.
 {{Quote|
-It was open—wide, wide open—and I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect distinctness—all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in my bones.
+But the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst. And now a new anxiety seized me — the sound would be heard by a neighbor! The old man's hour had come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern.
 }}
-He heard the old man's heart beating and, in a fit of rage, killed him.
+After ensuring the old man was dead, the narrator methodically dismembered the body and concealed it beneath the floorboards of the chamber. He worked with such precision that no blood stains remained visible.
+=== The Police Investigation ===
-After the murder, the man dismembered the old man's body and hid it under the floorboards of the room. He was confident that he had left no trace of his crime. However, a neighbor had heard a scream during the night and reported it to the police. When the police arrived to investigate, the man confidently showed them around the house, even inviting them to rest in the room where he had hidden the old man's body.
+At four in the morning, three police officers arrived to investigate a reported shriek. The narrator confidently welcomed them, explaining that he had shouted during a dream and that the old man was away in the country.
-As the police chatted and searched the house, the man began to feel increasingly agitated. He heard a persistent beating sound, which he believed was the old man's heart. The sound grew louder and more distinct, causing the man to become more and more panicked. He tried to ignore the sound and continue talking with the police, but it only grew louder. Eventually, he could no longer bear the sound and, in a fit of panic, confessed to the murder.
+{{Character
+| Name = The Police Officers
+| Description = three male law enforcement officers who investigate the premises after a neighbor reports hearing a shriek, polite and initially unsuspecting
+| Emoji = 👮🏻
+}}
 {{Quote|
-“Villains!” I shrieked, “dissemble no more! I admit the deed!—tear up the planks! here, here!—it is the beating of his hideous heart!”
+And now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over acuteness of the senses? — now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton.
 }}
-He told the police to tear up the floorboards, revealing the hidden corpse of the old man.
+As the officers chatted casually, the narrator began to hear what he believed was the dead man's heartbeat growing louder beneath the floorboards. The sound increased in volume until, driven mad by guilt and fear, he confessed to the murder and begged the officers to tear up the planks and find the body.
 {{End of text}}