Edgar Allan Poe is a key literary figure of American Renaissance. He has contributed to American literature not only as a short story writer but also as a magazine editor, a poet, a, a critic, and a lecturer. Although he was quite good with all types of writings but his short stories are considered as best of his works. In his short stories, Poe has adopted the famous genera, i.e. Gothic literature. Gothic genre was basically rose in Britain, however, Poe has given this genre a totally new identity. His gothic stories do not portrays the dark side of human nature as Romantics of Britain did; he displays a nation suffering from queer mental illness or insanity due to the increasing poverty and slavery in the society. “The Tell-Tale Heart” is also a gothic story which portrays the inner conflict of human mind and its bitter consequences.
In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, the narrator introduces us to the queer mental condition of himself. He explains that he is very nervous but claims that he is not mad. He further explains that he has a heightened sensitivity to sound and vision, and this ability is explained as his prove that he is not a mad man. On contrary to his plea of sanity, he explains his paranoia to an old man’s pale blue vulture eyes. The narrator has no conflicts with the old man neither he has the urge of swallowing the wealth of the old man after murdering him. But his fear and hatred for the eyes of the old man provoked the narrator to killed the person and finish the agony of being watch by those vulture eyes.
He utters his act of brutality in a manner as if his prudent actions are a proof of his totally sane personality. He very cunningly kills the man, dismembers his corpse, and hides the small parts of the body under the floorboards. After doing the deed, he was quite satisfied and pleased even when three policemen arrives to inspect the situation he very calmly invited them into the room under which the body of the deceased has been hidden. However, due to his heightened sensitivity to sound he hears his own heartbeat and mistakes it for the beating of the old man’s heart. He fears that the police officers and the neighbors might hear the sound of the old man’s heart and his crime would be revealed. Instead of leaving the things into the hands of the fates, he himself confesses the crime due to his increase agitation over the constant thudding sound.