narrator’s pride and confidence is shown in bizarre situations such as in his recount of his stalking incidents, his actions of murder, and during the police
officer visit. “In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed
over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done. But, for many minutes, the hea
rt beat on with a muffled sound.” Poe,1992:94. The narrator’s tone of telling his stories suggests that he is truly insane. A
sane person will tell similar stories with guilt and anxiety. However, the narrator is not. Therefore, he is “proud” and “confident” in his insane behavior.
B. Symbolism in the story
Different forms of symbols may occur in a story. Generally, symbol is an attribution of object to another object which reveals different, deeper, and more
significant meaning. However, an action of a person, a particular event, or spoken words may contain symbolic value. For
example, “kiss” is a symbol of love relationship, “smile” as a symbol of friendship.
Symbols do shift their meanings depending on the context they are used in. “A chain”, for example, may stand for “unity” as well as “imprisonment”. Thus,
symbolic meaning of an object or an action is understood by when, where and how it is used. It also depends on who reads them.
Poe’s thrilling and gloomy style of writing can be seen in various choices of words. In “The Tell-Tale-Heart” , Poe’s employs series of symbols which have
significant impact in the story.
1. The Old man
The symbol of the old man in the story is significant to the progress of the story and it related to the context of the story. Therefore, the presence of the old
man in the story has certain impact to the story such as the narrator’s response towards the presence of the old man.
It can be seen through the narrator’s emphasis and repetition to the word old man.
“I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye yes, it was this He had
the eye of a vulture -- a pale blue eye, with a film over it.”Poe,1992:92. From
this quotation, it suggests that the narrator is intimidated by the old man’s eye.
However, the old man’s eye is still a part of the old man himself and the narrator has direct relation to the old man. Therefore, the narrator is actually intimidated
by the old man too. From the narrator’s point of view, it suggests that the presence of the old man
in the story might represent death or dying hours. This argument based on the meaning of the old man itself which a person in his elder age or a person in his
twilight. Therefore, logically speaking, a person in his elder age may slowly enters hisher dying hours and from dying hours, other stages that he she might
enters is hisher death. However, since later in this analysis, it shows that the murder represents the narrator’s “escaping death”, the presence of the old man in
