What are some symbols in The Tell-Tale Heart?

Answer 1

The beating heart could be thought of as everybody's clock inside them. When it stops beating you die.' The beating heart could symbolize the narrator's guilt or his own fear. Also the symbol of the beating heart could represent the narrator's own insanity, then the beating heart itself might only exist within the imagination of the narrator and might not be "real."

The narrator describes the eye as being like the eye of a vulture. Vultures are scavangers that swoop in upon dead animals to feast on the carcass. Thus, they are ever-present and diligent. They see everything.

The eye in this story symbolizes that sort of penetration. The narrator is obviously disturbed and terrified that someone will see into his deepest fears and violent plans. The eye represents the window into the mind and soul of the narrator. It is always watching him - no matter what, he will be observed. This comes true in the end when the police come and the narrator reveals his own guilt. Somone is always watching - someone always knows.

You could also say that the eye is the conscience of the narrator. It watches him because it knows that he is planning to do wrong, and the narrator is thus haunted by it. Instead of trying to reconcile his desire with what his conscience knows is right, he chooses to destroy it.

Answer 2

The lantern used by the narrator is known as a dark-lantern, which means the light can be completely concealed by panels over the sides of the lantern. Because the lantern light is hidden throughout most of the story, and it sometimes only shows a thin ray of light, the lantern could symbolize a lack of insight by the narrator. It guides the narrator to see only what he wants to see, and reveals the old man's vulture eye.

Answer 3

Because of the fact that the narrator murdered the old man (with the odd eye) out of paranoia, here are some foreshadowing clues that perceive that the narrator "will get what's coming to him":

1. "I have told you that I am nervous: so I am."
2. "I smiled - for what had I to fear?"
3. "It was a low, dull, quick sound - much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton."

There are probably more in the story, but to me these are the top 3 clues that give the ending away.

--TheRighteousOne14

Answer 4

One is the "vulture eye" but I am unsure of the other. It may be the man's nervous disease.

The symbols of the story are the heart, lamp, and the eye refered to as the "evil eye." the heartbeat represents the guilt the crazy guy felt when he had killed the old man that had never wronged him in anyway. the lamp represents the truth, the truth that the old man was never evil. And lastly the eye represents evil to the crazy men.
-The old man's eye

-The Heartbeat

Answer 5

Some symbols in "The Tell-Tale Heart" include the old man's eye representing the narrator's guilt and paranoia, the heartbeat symbolizing the narrator's guilt and fear intensifying, and the house symbolizing confinement and the narrator's deteriorating mental state.

Answer 6

The narrator's heart and the old man's eye