Question

Now that you’ve read “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, explain in a paragraph how the narrator of this short story directly affects the plot. Be sure to identify multiple ways he has an impact.

Answer 1

He affects the story by the tone of his voice. It makes it sound scary and help build the suspense in this short story. The suspense builds in his voice until the climax of the short story.

Answer 2

In the short story “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the narrator carries the plot forward. All the events in the plot are either of his own doing or the result of his actions. At the start of the story, in the exposition, both the narrator and the old man are introduced to the reader through what the narrator says. The story starts with the narrator, who claims to be nervous. He then contradicts himself by “calmly” telling his story. There are several such contradictions throughout the story. The narrator claims he is not insane, but his speech and actions indicate otherwise. He claims to have loved the old man and to have been kind to him, but he murders him. His irrational fear of the old man’s “Evil Eye” is what sets the events of the story in motion. He fears and loathes the evil eye, so he decides to get rid of it. In the climax, he kills the old man. After killing the old man, the narrator dismembers him, apparently to separate the identity of the old man from his eye. Later, in the falling action, the narrator feels guilty about killing the old man. His guilt causes him to mistake his own thumping heart for the old man’s beating heart. He gives himself up to the police, providing the denouement. Thus, across all the parts of the plot, the narrator affects the story because he drives the action.