The Tell-Tale Heart d'Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe, The Tell-Tale Heart from “ Tales of Mystery and Imagination ” (1843)

The Tell-Tale Heart is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe. It was first published in 1843 in the collection “Tales of Mystery and Imagination”. This short story is a fantastic story, a kind of horror story with unexplainable phenomenon.

We do not know where exactly the story takes place. Only a few hints are given to the reader. However we suppose it is set in a house. It is dark night and it seems impossible to see a shadow.

The narrator is a dreadful man who is fascinating. He knows he is not absolutely “normal” but he also wonders if he is mad. He even asks that question to the reader who thinks he can decide about that. But the author, E.A.Poe does not really let him choose. He manipulates him with impunity.

The story happens because of an eye, the eye of the old man. That eye haunts the main character who cannot get it out of his mind because it reminds of a vulture's eye. Then the narrator decides to get rid of the eye to become free of his obsession.

I do like this short story because its author is a quite good magician. He creates a dark atmosphere from nothing. He plays with the words and the words play with the reader. He does not write by chance and nearly every word has a second meaning. His writing is rather obsessive. The same pictures and the same sounds are repeated. Once, twice and more, with other words or in another order. The effect on the reader is that his attention grows up. Suspense is created and the fallowing lines are impatiently waited for. But the reader never gets what he was expecting. He goes from surprise to surprise in a dark atmosphere where nothing is clear. There is a kind of Mystery on the whole story which comes from E.A.Poe's Imagination.

Finally, that is short story which is not really finished. After the last word, you can still imagine what could happen next.