This story, though short, but extremely catchy, affects the reader tremendously.  The Tell- Tale Heart gets us to know a person, probably mad, who kills an old man.  His emotions, feelings, fears, and thoughts are combined in this tiny story in a way that can not only reach, but touch anyone’s heart.  So who is this murderer?  What is his character? Why does he kill the old man? All these questions can be answered only after revealing the man’s personality and mentality, and that is exactly what I will try to do.

Firstly, let us mention that from the beginning of the story the protagonist says that he is not mad. Moreover, he repeats it several times throughout the story.  Why emphasize that? Why try to ensure us of his state? Most likely, this is due the fact that his mental state is exactly the opposite.  There is no doubt that he is mad, or at least, has some mental disorders, as far as, he was monitoring the man every night, and after this week he killed the man.  But he doesn’t stop on that.  He cuts of  the man’s legs and arms and hides them under the floor.  The murderer is psychotic, and this fact cannot be argued.  We cannot forget that this was not a simple murder – the killer lived together with the old man, he shared his house, and, more over, he says that he loves the old man.  The only thing that he is not able to stand is the “man’s pale blue eye”, which was “veiled by a thin white film” and “resembled that of a vulture.” Many critics state that this idea of an eye “has a double meaning, as the external “eye” of the old man is seen in contrast to the internal “I” of the narrator” (Short Story Criticism)

The last thing that makes the man completely lose his mind is when the policemen are in the house and the heart starts beating.  Of course, it could not make any sounds at all, as far as, the old man was dead, however, the murder, as a dreadful act, affected the man so much that it was ruining his mind minute after minute, making the sound louder and louder.  Unquestionably, this the man can stand no more,  so he started screaming loudly, and revealed the truth to the policemen.

The story is definitely a fascinating peace of literature, which influences the readers mind and heart.  The symbolism in the work is highly structured and knotted, so that the various topics of death, time, nature, the dream, the heart, and the eye—work together for accumulated outcome.