Contradictions on the “Tell-Tale Heart’ by Edgar Allen Poe Essay

One contradiction in terms in terms that the perceptive contri b atomic number 18lyor catches is the following. The fabricator first tells us that he spies on the gray- interrogativeed adult male at night. He eerily stares at the gray-headed serviceman while he sleeps It took me an moment to place my whole head at bottom the opening so far that I could see him as he sit upon his bed (Poe 291). This clearly implies that the storyteller female genitals see his future victim I could see him as he present upon his bed. But past the fabricator tells us that although the victim awakes startled, the fibber simply stood his prove in the limenway since His room was as black as fix with the heavyset darknessand so I knew that he could non see the opening of the door (Poe 292). This implies that the room and hallway are pitch black, which means that neither the victim nor the marauder piece of ass see some(prenominal)thing without light. So the narrator can both see an d non see his victim. This carefully concealed contradiction shows that the narration itself is unstable, just as the narrators object is.An other(a) contradiction can be found in the second paragraph of the story. The narrator says, It is insurmountable to say how first the idea entered my creative thinker (Poe 290). This suggests that the narrator was clueless as to how he thought up of the idea of violent death the h adeptst-to-goodness man. It is utter that it was not his decision, and implying that he was never thought process about it. later(prenominal) in the paragraph though, he says by degrees truly graduallyhe do up his mind to take the life of the venerable man (Poe 290). This contradicts the previous quote. First, he says that it was not his decision, but in the latter quote, the narrator tells the audience that he made up his mind to take the life of the honest-to-goodness man. Surely, nonetheless the narrator himself was confused.The narrator says that whe n he was espial on the gaga man, he cast off in his head (Poe 291). By definition, pushing means to push or puzzle quickly and forcibly. The reader gets an learn of the narrator passing with the threshold abruptly. For slyly he thrust it in (Poe 291). The next promissory note contradicts this statement for he says he travel it behindvery, very behind, so that he capability not disturb the old mans sleep (Poe 291). Now, the reader sees an image of the narrator peeking through gradually and quietly, so that the waking of the old man could be avoided. In fact, he didit so slowly that it took him an time of day to place his whole head within the opening (Poe 291). Taking an hour to put a head through a doorway truly is a long time, indicating that he could not dumbfound thrust his head through the doorway. trailer his head in to spy on the old man and doing it very, very slowly very much contradicts each other.The narrator describes what the old man is feeling and thinking of when he was startled at the ordinal night. His fears had been ever since growing upon him (Poe 292). One can picture the old man very afraid, not knowing what to do. Contrastingly, the narrator says that the old man had been saying to himselfIt is nothing but the wind in the chimneyit is single a mouse crossing the decorateit is merely a cricket which has made a single chirp (Poe 292). It seems as if the old man is saying this with confidence, and without fear. This implies that the old man is not scared at all. He does not plain worry for he believes that it is nothing but merely a noise created by nature. Additionally, the narrator says that the old man had been trying to comfort himself with these suppositions (Poe 292). Now, the narrator goes back in saying that the old man is in fact scared, for he is trying to find comfort. The narrator fundamentally said that the old man is scared, then not scared, and finally, scared once again.The narrator speaks of the midriff of the old man that bo on that pointd him. He describes it as a dull blue, with a dread(a) veil over it (Poe 293). He describes it as if it is something weak, without strength, for it cannot even tell when a beam of light is on it, as the narrator did every night, for eight unbent nights. Near the end of the story, the narrator says that it is something else, again a contradiction. No valet de chambre marrownot even hiscould have detect any thing wrong (Poe 294). This indicated that there is a power that the centerfield possesses. If a normal human eye, already with spacious power, could not detect anything wrong, surely a dull eye with a hideous veil over it cannot do any better. The narrator though gives power to the eye because he puts the old mans eye in a higher(prenominal) position than that of a normal human eye. withal the emphasis on the account book his through the means of italics says that the narrator is saying that the eye holds power.Irrational human drives such as obsession, paranoia, the desire to destroy and other mental psychoses such as these cannot be rationally rationalizeed. It is quite complicated and even an in depth digest of these themes is coda to impossible. One cannot really explain somebodys obsession, simply because no one knows what is actually going on in the obsessed mind, other than the obsessed himself. It is unlikely that I would be able to explain the very brain activity of the obsessed. Even if I ask questions or audition on him, I would not be able to comprehend it all. Similarly, attempts of discovering the foundation of paranoia are difficult. Perhaps it is the many factors that contribute to this.In the end, it all leads to in depth analysis that would only uncover irrational and bemused reasons as to how one became paranoid, as it as well as is with how one became obsessed. The narrator of the story attempts to drive home himself by saying that he is not a madman. In explaining everything, he believes t hat he is in fact rational. The story, though, full of contradictions, proves that the narrator is unstable, and all the explanations in the world could not unravel the mysteries of obsession and paranoia.