facing death. Moreover, the fact that the narrator mentioned this three times may suggests
the narrator’s anxiety and fear towards death.
3. The Watch
The watch in this story is pretty often mentioned in this story. Therefore, it may have significant means for the interpretation of the story.
“A watchs minute hand moves more quickly than did mine.” Poe,1992: 93. Watch is closely
related to time. From this relation with time, the watch in the dialog above may represent dying minutes before death. It means that the narrator slowly make his
way into his inevitable doom. “He was still sitting up in the bed listening; --just as I have done, night after
night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall.” Poe,1992:94. Here for example, the sound of the watch
suggests that the old man’s death is close and inevitable.
“…now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton.
”Poe,1992:94. From the quotation, it suggests that the narrator slowly succumbs into his anxiety towards death. The
anxiety is represented with the sound of the watch. Though the sound is slow, the narrator is still able to hear this particular sound.
4. The Bed and the Bedroom
The bed and bedroom are considered symbol because those two words have significant meaning in the story. Moreover, it may have other meanings beyond
its original meaning. The word bed according to Oxford Dictionary means a piece of furniture for
sleeping on. Meanwhile, bedroom according to the same source is a room for sleeping in. Therefore, the bed and the bedroom may symbolize serenity and
comfort. However, in this story a different perspective of symbol of bed and bedroom is given by Poe’s. It is suggests that bed and bedroom may represents
final resting place and vulnerability . It is because the narrator’s murder happens
in the bedroom and on the old man’s bed. “The old mans hour had come With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. He shrieked once --
once only .” Poe,1992:94.
5. The Action of Killing Murder
The murder in this story perhaps can be seen as literally taken someone life. However, according to Abrams 1999, action may have deeper meaning than
the original meaning itself. Therefore, the murder of the old man in the story may suggest that it is the act of the narrator’s “retaliation” towards death. In the
previous analysis, the old man in the story represents not only the presence of death but also the way to
“escape death”. The narrator, whom already corrupted by his own anxiety, cannot
contain himself finally makes an action to “erase”
