B.K. Olivia

thoughts no one asked for

Murder, Madness and Horror: Poe’s ‘The tell-tale heart’

Edgar Allan Poe is often credited as the writer off whom the short story genre was built (March-Russell, 2009). Poe suggested that stories should last “from a half-hour to one or two hours in its perusal”, and that they should “be read at one sitting” (1965, p. 135). Although Poe may be most widely regarded as a Romantic poet, during his life he wrote short mystery and horror stories to suit the marketplace and supplement his income (March-Russell, 2009). One such story is ‘The tell-tale heart’ (McCaw, 2008), that blends the aforementioned genres into a first-person short story exploring madness and murder. This mini-essay will explore the use of language and tone in Poe’s ‘The tell-tale heart’.

Tone of Voice

The use of tone in ‘The tell-tale heart’ invites the reader to judge the main character’s actions as he pleads his sanity. Tone can be defined as the speaker’s “attitude to his listener” (Richards, 1929, p. 241); that is, “The tone of his utterance reflects. . .his sense of how he stands toward those he is addressing” (p. 243, 378). In ‘The tell-tale heart’, the speaker uses a pleading tone wherein he tries to convince the reader of his sanity:

“Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded.” (McCaw, 2008, p. 130)

The speaker is consistently using second-person to address the reader directly, trying to convince them that the murdering of the old man was not done in a moment of madness but a moment of clarity. That, should they have been in his shoes, they would have taken the exact same course of action to rid themselves of the old man’s eye.

The tone of a speaker in literature also indicates the assumptions they make about a reader’s intelligence (Abrams & Harpham, 2013, p. 287). The speaker in ‘The tell-tale heart’ assumes that the reader is below him in intelligence levels—that the reader does not understand his actions. They, like many others, would simply think him to be “mad”.

So, the speaker explains the actions he took and why, to prove that he is not mad, he is simply far more intelligent than those around him who did not understand his hatred for the eye: “But why will you say I am mad? The disease has sharpened my senses – not destroyed – not dulled them” (p. 130). Alongside the speaker’s unique tone, Poe also utilises language to create impact and effectiveness in the story.

Language Choices

The use of language in ‘The tell-tale heart’ indicates the anxious nature of the speaker. Poe utilises short sentences with repeating words and meanings to indicate the speaker’s agitated and anxious state. The consistent repetition indicates that the speaker is trying to convince himself and the reader that his thoughts and actions were deliberate, thought-out, and could in no way be linked to madness—because a madman could not act so deliberately.

“I put in a lantern, all closed, closed, that no light shone out. . . I moved it slowly – very, very slowly. . . I undid the lantern cautiously – oh, so cautiously – cautiously.” (McCaw, 2008, p. 130).

Whilst trying to convince the reader of his sanity, the speaker is actually highlighting his lack thereof through his unnatural repetition on words. The speaker’s focus on proving that he is not mad by repeating words that reinforce his ‘sane’ actions, such as moving slowly or cautiously, actually does the opposite for the reader. Another use of language found in the story is exclamation marks.

Punctuation Usage

Exclamation marks are used throughout ‘The tell-tale heart’ to indicate the speaker’s effort to convince the reader of his sanity and also highlights his descent into recognition of his actions. The speaker is insistent that his actions were calm, healthy, and planned, but the use of language in the story to convince the reader as such is not: “How, then, am I mad? Hearken! And observe how healthily – how calmly I can tell you the whole story” (p. 130).

The speaker is even unsure of why he killed the old man, until he decides and exclaims that “I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this!” (p. 130). The use of exclamation marks highlights the speaker’s insistence that the reader agrees with him, that, yes, the eye was a valid reason to kill the man. By the end of the story, exclamation marks are not used to convince the reader of his sanity, but to indicate the speaker’s slow recognition, regret, and insanity that over takes him:

“Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! and now – again! – hark! louder! louder! louder! louder!” (McCaw, 2008, p. 133)

In conclusion, Poe’s ‘The tell-tale heart’ cleverly uses tone and language to indicate at the speaker’s desire—to convince the reader of his sanity—and his decline into madness as his actions weigh on his mentality. The story’s tone indicates the speaker’s urgency to understand his actions and to gain validation from the reader. Some use of language in the story includes short sentences with repetition and exclamation marks.

Works Cited

Abrams, M. H., & Harpham, G. (2013). A glossary of literary terms. Cengage Learning.

March-Russell, P. (2009). Poe, O. Henry and the well-made story. In Peter, M. R., (Ed.), The short story: An introduction. Edinburgh University Press.

McCaw, N. (2008). The tell-tale heart by Edgar Allan Poe. In How to read texts: A student guide to critical approaches and skills, pp. 130-133. Bloomsbury.

Poe, E. A. (1965). Literary criticism of Edgar Allan Poe. Harvard University Press.

Richards, I. A. (1929). Practical criticism: A study of literary judgement. Paul London.


Posted

in

by