What are the character traits in the Tell-Tale Heart?
Our narrator in The Tell-Tale Heart is such a wreck, it’s hard not to feel sorry for him. He’s nervous (“very dreadfully nervous”), paranoid, and physically and mentally ill.
What kind of character is the narrator in the Tell-Tale Heart?
The narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart” presents as an unreliable narrator whose actions do not convey the qualities of a sane man. In his crime, he also proves to be arrogant yet patient. For seven nights the narrator carefully watches the old man sleep, and finally on the eighth night he strikes.
How long does the narrator of The Tell Tale Heart stalks his victims before killing him?
The narrator waits until the eighth night to commit the murder of the old man because the old man’s eyes were closed on the first seven nights.
What was the narrator’s reason for killing the old man why does he finally commit the crime?
In Poe’s celebrated short story “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the mentally deranged, unreliable narrator attempts to convince the audience that he is sane while he vividly describes how he murdered and dismembered an old man. The narrator admits that the old man’s pale blue eye motivated him to commit the violent crime.
What made the police arrive at the house in the Tell-Tale Heart?
When the narrator goes into the old man’s room to murder him, the old man lets out a scream, which one of the neighbors hears. Since it is the middle of the night, the neighbor gets nervous and calls the police. So, the police officers arrive at the house to inspect the scene and interview the narrator.
What is the old man’s fear in Tell-Tale Heart?
According to the narrator, the old man suspects nothing because the narrator was super duper nice to him the week before he killed him. We can’t prove the old man wasn’t suspicious, but because he leaves his bedroom door unlocked we can assume it. We know the man isn’t naturally trusting – he’s afraid of robbers.