Topic: The discussion today in your class did not end with the argument that the narrator was a mad man or not. How do you justify your stance? (The narrator was mad or not mad)
Edgar Allan Poe is very successful in two categories in his works: tales of terror and stories of intellect. One of his “Tales of terror” works is “The tell-tale heart.” In this short story, the unknown main character is also the narrator who told the story how he killed an old man lived with him. The reason made him to do that is just the eyes of the old man. The narrator was obsessed by these vulture-eyes. The simple and silly motivation for his evil that let people think he was a mad man, but the calm and cleverness in his serious crime also demonstrate that he was not mad. In my opinion, I think he was not mad, even he is a normal person. Some clear evidences as follows will explain why I could affirm that.
First, the narrator is not a mad man because of his wise mind. He knows exactly which one made him uncomfortable. That’s the eyes of the old man, the vulture-eyes because he said that “I love the old man. He had never wronged me…, except his blue, grey eyes”. A mad man could not know accurately reason of his action, but in this case, the narrator know what and why did lead him to do such evil things. He was obsessed the vulture-eye and he couldn’t control his evil thinking. “A vulture-eye”- this reason seemed stupid but in reality, there was many murders killing their victims because of their appearance like this. Besides, if he was a mad man, he would try to avoid it, so he was not mad. Furthermore, the mad man doesn’t have ability to make a perfect plan. In the work “The tell-tale heart”, we can see how carefully he made a plan to kill the old man. Obviously, the narrator has a wise mind. Every night, he returned the latch of the old man’s door and opened it. Then, he put in a dark lantern, no light shone out. He moved slowly so that he might not disturb the old man’s sleep. During seven nights, he repeated his action to see the old man lay on his bed. He couldn’t do anything because the eye always closed whereas he only killed the old man when the vulture-eye opened. Therefore, he waited the chance to come during seven long nights; until the eighth night, when the old man opened his eye because of the dim ray light, the narrator killed the old man. Actually, a mad man couldn’t do like that. Especially, after killing the old man, the narrator also concealed carefully the corpse under the planks by cutting the dead body into three parts: the head, the arms and the legs. He also washed blood-spot cautiously. His plan was so perfect that a mad man couldn’t do like this. All above evidences, I think that the narrator wasn’t a mad man.
Second, a mad man often doesn’t confess his crime. Although in our life, people still believe in the “cause – consequence” rule because of their religions. I think that the narrator’s confession is evident. However, if the murder was mad, he couldn’t do that because they lack of good sense. In this story, after killing the old man and hiding his dead body under the planks, the narrator still heard the beating of the old man’s heart. Actually, this beating came from his mind, his heart not from the corpse. Those sounds came from his nervous, anxious and guilty about his wrong. The good overslept when his evil killed the old man without a minute of hesitation. Then, it awoke, made him fearful and forced him to do the right thing. We can see clearly that these above senses just come from a normal men, it can’t come from a mad man who doesn’t have ability to control himself.
Last but not least, his mentality is strong so he is not a mad man. It doesn’t like as followed myth “The mad man never thinks he is mad which is similar to a drunker who never thinks he is drunk?” In “Tell-tale heart”, the narrator repeated many time that “I am not a mad man”. I think that, he actually is not mad in his words. He said this to confirm to the policemen or everyone that he killed the old man with a wise mind not disordered mental. Maybe his silly reason made people believe that he was mad, but actually he was not mad. Nowadays, in our life, having many murderers killed their victims without the motive for his crime even someone didn’t know why they killed them. After finishing their crime, they feel regret and confess as the narrator here. This is also the bad face of men. Sometimes we could lose our control in our action. I think among many choices to keep away from the old man’ eye, the narrator chose the worst thing that was killing the old man. In this work, the narrator maybe over-suffered from the old man’s eye. The last word, the narrator was not a mad man; on the contrary he had a strong spirit.
Through this story, the narrator who is the main character in work “Tell-tale heart” committed a crime within a silly and unacceptable reason although his mind is very wise and strong. He really isn’t a mad person. The author wants to refer to the human morality in this work. I can understand the limit between the good and the bad is very frail.
Composed by Lê Thị Thuý Quỳnh
Edgar Allan Poe is very successful in two categories in his works: tales of terror and stories of intellect. One of his “Tales of terror” works is “The tell-tale heart.” In this short story, the unknown main character is also the narrator who told the story how he killed an old man lived with him. The reason made him to do that is just the eyes of the old man. The narrator was obsessed by these vulture-eyes. The simple and silly motivation for his evil that let people think he was a mad man, but the calm and cleverness in his serious crime also demonstrate that he was not mad. In my opinion, I think he was not mad, even he is a normal person. Some clear evidences as follows will explain why I could affirm that.
First, the narrator is not a mad man because of his wise mind. He knows exactly which one made him uncomfortable. That’s the eyes of the old man, the vulture-eyes because he said that “I love the old man. He had never wronged me…, except his blue, grey eyes”. A mad man could not know accurately reason of his action, but in this case, the narrator know what and why did lead him to do such evil things. He was obsessed the vulture-eye and he couldn’t control his evil thinking. “A vulture-eye”- this reason seemed stupid but in reality, there was many murders killing their victims because of their appearance like this. Besides, if he was a mad man, he would try to avoid it, so he was not mad. Furthermore, the mad man doesn’t have ability to make a perfect plan. In the work “The tell-tale heart”, we can see how carefully he made a plan to kill the old man. Obviously, the narrator has a wise mind. Every night, he returned the latch of the old man’s door and opened it. Then, he put in a dark lantern, no light shone out. He moved slowly so that he might not disturb the old man’s sleep. During seven nights, he repeated his action to see the old man lay on his bed. He couldn’t do anything because the eye always closed whereas he only killed the old man when the vulture-eye opened. Therefore, he waited the chance to come during seven long nights; until the eighth night, when the old man opened his eye because of the dim ray light, the narrator killed the old man. Actually, a mad man couldn’t do like that. Especially, after killing the old man, the narrator also concealed carefully the corpse under the planks by cutting the dead body into three parts: the head, the arms and the legs. He also washed blood-spot cautiously. His plan was so perfect that a mad man couldn’t do like this. All above evidences, I think that the narrator wasn’t a mad man.
Second, a mad man often doesn’t confess his crime. Although in our life, people still believe in the “cause – consequence” rule because of their religions. I think that the narrator’s confession is evident. However, if the murder was mad, he couldn’t do that because they lack of good sense. In this story, after killing the old man and hiding his dead body under the planks, the narrator still heard the beating of the old man’s heart. Actually, this beating came from his mind, his heart not from the corpse. Those sounds came from his nervous, anxious and guilty about his wrong. The good overslept when his evil killed the old man without a minute of hesitation. Then, it awoke, made him fearful and forced him to do the right thing. We can see clearly that these above senses just come from a normal men, it can’t come from a mad man who doesn’t have ability to control himself.
Last but not least, his mentality is strong so he is not a mad man. It doesn’t like as followed myth “The mad man never thinks he is mad which is similar to a drunker who never thinks he is drunk?” In “Tell-tale heart”, the narrator repeated many time that “I am not a mad man”. I think that, he actually is not mad in his words. He said this to confirm to the policemen or everyone that he killed the old man with a wise mind not disordered mental. Maybe his silly reason made people believe that he was mad, but actually he was not mad. Nowadays, in our life, having many murderers killed their victims without the motive for his crime even someone didn’t know why they killed them. After finishing their crime, they feel regret and confess as the narrator here. This is also the bad face of men. Sometimes we could lose our control in our action. I think among many choices to keep away from the old man’ eye, the narrator chose the worst thing that was killing the old man. In this work, the narrator maybe over-suffered from the old man’s eye. The last word, the narrator was not a mad man; on the contrary he had a strong spirit.
Through this story, the narrator who is the main character in work “Tell-tale heart” committed a crime within a silly and unacceptable reason although his mind is very wise and strong. He really isn’t a mad person. The author wants to refer to the human morality in this work. I can understand the limit between the good and the bad is very frail.
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