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Schule > Englisch > Zusammenfassung Kurzgeschichte tell-tale heart von Edgar Allan Poe

Summary of the tell-tale heart

The tell-tale heart is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe which is about an insane murderer who kills his victim, a defenceless old man, just because of whose pale blue eye. Even if he does his horrific deed which such a care and conscience that it appears to be illogical for a madman, at the end he's of all things betrayed by the mysterious beating of the death man's heart which coerces him to admit his unhuman crime.
At this the first-person-narrative perspective helps the readers following the exciting happening through the eyes of a maniac and so get them at the same time sharing and distancing from the murderer's strange motive.
In the beginning the I-narrator inform about his deed which he didn't seem to feel a bad conscience about but pretending perseverant his insanity. We furthermore come to know that he thinks of himself he would be able to hear "things from hell and heaven" and that the only object to murder the old man he actually liked was his scary eye he calls disgusted the "vulture eye".
Following he tells how diligent he planned and realised the murder: In his viewpoint he could kill the oldman just while seeing his evil eye. That's why he has to enter secretly the oldman's appartment, sneak silent in his bedroom and sit there waiting night for night that the scary eye would be opened once.
This way it happens after seven long nights and the murderer does what he had in his mind, whereby the actual misdeed remains untold.
Next morning policemen arrive for an interrogation after being called by attentive neighbours who heard a scream in the night. Concealing the corpse under paving tiles before the murderer feels on top of his success and invite the peace officers in. While talking he convinces them with his calm and cautious behaviour.
But then suddenly something unplanned is going to happen: A noise, first mute and constant, then the more and more distinctive is heard by him and moments later identified as the beating of the old man's heart underneath the bottom. Feeling the policeman must have heard this noise as well and would be already in knowledge of his crime the abuser admits his crime in sheer desperation. The only thing he can now think of is to get rid of the painful sound!

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