Tell Tale Heart Summary

The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

The Tell Tale Heart is a short story by the American writer Edgar Allan Poe. This story is told by a narrator without name who tries to convince the readers that he is not insane while describing the murder he has just committed. The murder victim is an old man with the ''eye of a vulture'' and a film on it, the narrator says. The narrator specifies the procedure of the murder. He jumps out with a loud yell and smothers the old man with his own bed. He dismembers the body to hide it under the floorboards. The narrator feels guilty and mentally disturbed, he can hear a thumping sound which he assumes as the heart of the old man beating.

When the police officers enter the house because of the old man´s scream heard by a neighbor who reports it, the narrator breaks down and confesses the crime
The narrator says that he does not have any object, passion, hatred of resentment for the man who has never wronged him. He tells the police to tear up the floorboards to reveal what remains of the dismembered old man´s body.

Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19th, 1809 and died on October 7th, 1849. He was an American writer, poet, critic and editor best known for evocative short stories and poems that captured the imagination and interest of readers around the world. His imaginative storytelling and tales of mystery and horror gave birth to the modern detective story. Many of Poe’s works, including “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Fall of the House of Usher,” became literary classics. Some aspects of Poe’s life, like his literature, is shrouded in mystery, and the lines between fact and fiction have been blurred substantially since his death.