What best summarizes the narrator's argument in the third paragraph from The Tell-Tale Heart?

Answer 1

The metaphor was guilt. With the heart pounding above the man's head, it was a metahpor for gult.
There are multiple metaphors in A Tell Tale Heart. They are listed in order of the most significant

THE HEART

Well, it's listed in the title, so one can assume it must be pretty darn important. Our first key that it's a metaphor? THE THING KEEPS BEATING AFTER THE OLD MAN IS SUFFOCATED, DISMEMBERED AND THEN SHOVED UNDER SOME FLOOR BOARDS.

One way to see it, the heart represent's the narrators guilt for killing the old man. This theory works if you see the old man as simply an old man. If you view the old man as say, a reflection of the narrator himself (kinda like Voldemort and Harry Potter), then the heartbeat can represent the narrator's insanity.

THE EVIL EYE

Isn't it weird that the narrator didn't think the old man was evil, just the eye. That's because the eye is a metaphor. Again there can be debate over what exactly the metaphor is for, and there really is not right or wrong answer if the theory can be supported. The eye, as Poe himself includes in the story, it evil. So it's pretty safe to conclude that the eye is a metaphor for.... wait for it.... evil! If you want to dig deeper you could even go as far as to say it is the evilness which the narrator sees in himself. Eyes are the windows to the soul after all. That, too, is a metaphor.

THE WATCH

Okay, so the watch or time is mentioned like a bazillion times in the story. Whether it's a watch itself, a death watch in a wall, the seven days (I personally feel is a biblical reference), or a more abstract mention in one of the many times the narrator describes how very, very slowly he moved, time is important here. It represents the journey to death. The contemplation of death took over a week before he was finally able to do it. This can be taken as a metaphor itself. Maybe the week is years. Who knows?

THE LANTERN

It is mentioned less than the watch, however I think it's important to note that light is generally a counter to darkness. Darkness is usually associated with evil. SO if light fights dark and dark is evil then light is good? But then why does the narrator finally kill the old man once the light is fully shed upon the eye? Maybe because he has seen the full force of the eye. And as we've discussed earlier, the eye could stand for the narrator himself. SO when the narrator see's his true evil/insanity in the old man's eye he must destroy the eye

MIDNIGHT

When I first read the story I though the use of midnight was simply to enforce the tone of the story. Midnight can be thought of as the darkest hour, and hey, dark= evil. So of course the narrator is doing evil things at the evil hour. BUT once the old man was dead, and it was 4 o'clock but still dark as midnight, that was a pretty good indication that midnight wasn't just reflecting the evil of the actions but the evil of the narrator himself.

FINALLY

THE BELL

Okay, I might be grasping at strings here but I think the bell means something. The bell to me means the end. End of the old man, end of the narrators sanity, end of the narrators quest, I'm not positive. But Poe did also write a poem about bells- I believe it was titled such- and it was all about life and being young and growing old and dying. So I think the bell means something here.
There are multiple metaphors in A Tell Tale Heart. They are listed in order of the most significant

THE HEART

Well, it's listed in the title, so one can assume it must be pretty darn important. Our first key that it's a metaphor? THE THING KEEPS BEATING AFTER THE OLD MAN IS SUFFOCATED, DISMEMBERED AND THEN SHOVED UNDER SOME FLOOR BOARDS.

One way to see it, the heart represent's the narrators guilt for killing the old man. This theory works if you see the old man as simply an old man. If you view the old man as say, a reflection of the narrator himself (kinda like Voldemort and Harry Potter), then the heartbeat can represent the narrator's insanity.

THE EVIL EYE

Isn't it weird that the narrator didn't think the old man was evil, just the eye. That's because the eye is a metaphor. Again there can be debate over what exactly the metaphor is for, and there really is not right or wrong answer if the theory can be supported. The eye, as Poe himself includes in the story, it evil. So it's pretty safe to conclude that the eye is a metaphor for.... wait for it.... evil! If you want to dig deeper you could even go as far as to say it is the evilness which the narrator sees in himself. Eyes are the windows to the soul after all. That, too, is a metaphor.

THE WATCH

Okay, so the watch or time is mentioned like a bazillion times in the story. Whether it's a watch itself, a death watch in a wall, the seven days (I personally feel is a biblical reference), or a more abstract mention in one of the many times the narrator describes how very, very slowly he moved, time is important here. It represents the journey to death. The contemplation of death took over a week before he was finally able to do it. This can be taken as a metaphor itself. Maybe the week is years. Who knows?

THE LANTERN

It is mentioned less than the watch, however I think it's important to note that light is generally a counter to darkness. Darkness is usually associated with evil. SO if light fights dark and dark is evil then light is good? But then why does the narrator finally kill the old man once the light is fully shed upon the eye? Maybe because he has seen the full force of the eye. And as we've discussed earlier, the eye could stand for the narrator himself. SO when the narrator see's his true evil/insanity in the old man's eye he must destroy the eye

MIDNIGHT

When I first read the story I though the use of midnight was simply to enforce the tone of the story. Midnight can be thought of as the darkest hour, and hey, dark= evil. So of course the narrator is doing evil things at the evil hour. BUT once the old man was dead, and it was 4 o'clock but still dark as midnight, that was a pretty good indication that midnight wasn't just reflecting the evil of the actions but the evil of the narrator himself.

FINALLY

THE BELL

Okay, I might be grasping at strings here but I think the bell means something. The bell to me means the end. End of the old man, end of the narrators sanity, end of the narrators quest, I'm not positive. But Poe did also write a poem about bells- I believe it was titled such- and it was all about life and being young and growing old and dying. So I think the bell means something here.

Answer 2

An old man is murdered by a young man, and his corpse is hidden under floorboards. But the guilt is so great that the young man fancies he can hear the old man's heart beating. It gets louder and louder in his head, until he gives himself away, and screaming out his guilt he tears up the floorboards as the police break the door down.
Plot of the tell-tale heart is when a dude killed this old man that he is taking care of because of his 'evil eye' which is just an infected eye. Later the killer revels his crime because he hears the beating of the heart beat of the old man. (just the guilt) :)

if u wanna a better plot explaining... read the story yourself!

Answer 3

Here are some examples of questions about the short story:

What do you think is the theme of the story?

What is the climax of the story?

Why does the narrator kill the man?

Why does the narrator confess?

Answer 4

Basically, the main theme of The Tell-tale Heart is a character study into the flawed human psyche.

There are several main themes or central ideas present in the story:

Versions of Reality - The narrator's version of reality in his mind is very different from the version of reality others see. The story forces us to examine the differences.

Home - Usually, we think of home as a safe place, but this story examines a different version of home - one of violence, death, loneliness, isolation, and madness.

Mortality - The story studies how one person can justify killing another.

Time - The story is almost obsessed with time, and purposefully presents inconsistencies of time, which is meant to confuse the reader and illustrate more of the sense of anxiety and madness.

Answer 5

WHATS IS THE NARRATOR IN THE TELL TALE OF HEARTS BY EDGAR ALLAN POE ? Which best summarizes the narrator's argument in the third paragraph ? HERE'S YOUR ANSWER !!!!! He argues that he is not angry because he has been checking on the old man while he sleep's !!!!!! THAT'S YOUR ANSWER !!!!!! By LeeAnn Collins

Answer 6

WikiAnswers will not write your essay for you - cheating is wrong and you can be expelled for it. We WILL help you learn how to do your own work, however.

First, you need to read the story.

Next, make a short list of what happened in the story - tell only the main points. Then add a very short description of the characters to the beginning of your outline, and another very short description of the setting. There's your outline.

Answer 7

I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.

Answer 8

He was crazy--so crazy that he didn't even know he was crazy--and he killed a guy because the guy looked funny.