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
the story may suggests more than just death. It signifies the narrator’s way to
“escape death”.
2. The Old man’s eye the “vulture eye”
Another symbol that may have deeper meaning is the old man’s eye or the “vulture eye”. The vulture eye is considered as a symbol because it is repeatedly
said by the narrator through emphasis. Throughout the story, i
t can be seen that the old man’s eye really intimidates the narrator. Moreover, the old man’s eye really influences the narrator to murder
the old man. This irrational fear may suggest that the narrator sees the eye as something else, such as the eye of a vulture. This continuity can be seen in some of
the narrator’s quotations.
“He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees --very
gradually --I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.” Poe,1992:92
“I undid the lantern cautiously-oh, so cautiously --cautiously for the hinges creaked --I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon
the vultu re eye” Poe,1992:92
“I resolved to open a little --a very, very little crevice in the lantern. So I opened it --you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily --until, at length
a simple dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot from out the crevice and fell full upon the v
ulture eye.” Poe,1992:94
Vultures, according to Oxford Dictionary, are birds that prey upon dead animals. Therefore, from the part of the quotation above, it suggests that the use
of word “vulture eye” by the narrator may have symbolically meaning, which is
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