Mental Illness In The Tell-Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe

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Throughout the story, “The Tell-tale Heart”, written by Edgar Allan Poe it is stated that he is mentally disturbed. This is because he engages in behaviors that are anomalous leaving the readers to conclude that he is mentally unstable. This essay describes how in story, it is evident that mental illness is behind the narrator’s thoughts and actions.

The first incidence that acts as proof of the narrator’s unstable mental state is his obsession with his father’s eyes. It is not normal for a person to be disturbed by another person’s eyes. The narrator however terms his father’s eyes as evil and he even swears to kill his father to eliminate his blues eyes. This acts as proof that his mental state is not normal as it drives him to think that way. …show more content…
This is because the narrator himself admits that at 12 o’clock every night he opens the door to his father’s bedroom partially and peeps as the old man is still asleep. At this time he admits that since his father’s eyes are closed it is hard to think about killing him. It is out of ordinary for someone to stalk others as they are sleeping. Stalking is a symptom of mental problems. The fact that the narrator does this every night shows a form of compulsive disorder that he the narrator cannot control. From this this, one can be deduce that the narrator is not mentally sound and it is why he stalks his father and even plots to kill him. The murderous thoughts are also an indicator of severe mental

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