Personal Narrative: A Tell-Tale Heart

Words: 454
Pages: 2

He walked into the courtroom, looking around with a curious expression on his face. I wondered if he even comprehended what was going on. The police escorted him to the front of the room, where he would sit. Questions were thrown at him as he sat there dumbfounded. He yelled, “It was me! I killed the old man.” (A Tell-Tale Heart 93)

The room was silent. A sudden horror rose inside me. Standing before me was a murderer. Why would he confess to the crime? Does he not realize the consequences? Trying to rationalize his murderous action, he yelled, “It was his eye that vexed me.” (A Tell-Tale Heart 90). He must be mad. Who would kill because of an abnormal eye? I listened closely as the lawyers argued back and forth about if he was responsible or not. From my initial impression, he was clearly mad and he should plead insanity. However, there seemed to be more to the story.
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I watched him closely as these thoughts flowed through my head. He claims he loved the old man and had no desire to kill him, yet he smothered him and chopped him into pieces. He claims no passion, but yet the old man’s evil eye enrages him. If his actions stopped there, perhaps I would be convinced he did it unaware of what he was doing. However, hiding the body so cleverly gives him away. Why hide a body if he didn’t know what he was doing? Only a person who knows he did something wrong would be so precise and careful in covering up the crime. These are not the actions of a madman, but of an intelligent heartless