Fear and Literary Elements in “The Tell-Tale Heart”

Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” creates a mood and tone of fear using several literary elements. These include symbolism, characterization, and plot.

The first literary element that helps create a mood and tone of fear is a symbolic device. The narrator is afraid of the old man’s evil eye, which he describes as “the eye of a vulture—a pale blue eye, with a film over it” (first third, early in the story). The narrator is afraid of the eye and believes it is evil and can curse him. As a result, it creates tension and fear for the narrator and reader.

The heartbeat is a symbol in “A Tell-Tale Heart” that creates a mood of fear. The narrator’s guilt for committing murder takes the form of a heartbeat that only the narrator can hear. When the narrator hears it, he becomes afraid. “No doubt I now grew very pale... Yet the sound increased --and what could I do? It was a low, dull, quick sound…” (last third of the story). Because the narrator does not recognize that the heartbeat is not real, the reader cannot know this, either. As a result, it builds tension and fear in the story that the old man is still alive.

The character of the narrator also helps to build fear in the story. When the narrator is talking with the police officers, he loses control of himself. “Oh God! what could I do? I foamed—I raved—I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder—louder—louder!” (end of the story). Because the reader knows the narrator’s thoughts, his loss of sanity makes the story tense and fearful.

Finally, the plot is a literary element that helps to develop a sense of fear in the story. The story is basically a murder story, so there is some suspense and fear about being discovered for the crime. The narrator commits the murder in a way that creates fear. “With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. He shrieked once --once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him” (middle/last third of the story). This violence and the narrator’s reaction to it at first is chilling for the reader and builds tension and fear in the story.

Work Cited

Poe, Edgar Allen. "The Tell-Tale Heart" Perrine's Story and Structure. Ed. Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson. 12th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2012. pp. 658–662.