The Tell-Tale Heart

In a short story like “The Tell-Tale Heart”, written by Edgar Allen Poe in 1843, every sentence is important. One cannot spend endless paragraphs setting the time and place. Even though every story needs to include a setting, not all authors possess the ability to make it seem effortless. Making the setting and the actual development of the story seem as one can be a challenging task, but this author does most definitely succeed. The numerous time indications in The Tell-Tale Heart improve the intrigue of the story immensely as they add depth to the setting, the character and the reader’s experience.

            First, the repetitive night setting adds spookiness to the story and makes the old man seem more vulnerable to the reader. Every author, from respectable to admired, knows that a night setting is key to suspense and fright. As demonstrated more than a few times in the text, the concise expressions subtly included in the sentences give the reader just enough of information to set the tone without describing the actual environment for several sentences. By using such phrases as: “And now, at the dead hour of the night” and “Many a night, just at midnight, when all the world slept”, the author succeeds in making the main character seem incredibly vicious and the old man seem more vulnerable than if the story took place during a warm summer day. 

            Next, the main character’s precise and intense track of time leads the reader to believe he is truly lucid. Even though the main character mentions a few times that he is not crazy, one might not agree when reading the manic way the reader sets the time and actions in this story. The fact that he remembers every detail about the crime makes him seem very deranged. Saying that “for a whole hour [he] did not move a muscle” definitely makes the reader doubt his sanity, which is the essential idea of the author.

            Finally, the intricate timeline invites the reader to feel more involved, more implicated in the story. In fact, by spacing out the time elements throughout the plotline, the author makes the story more active. By adding expressive sentences such as: “It grew louder, I say, louder every moment!” the reader constantly feels implicated in the story, as if he were in danger as well! The suspense and excitement is built up thanks to the image of the ticking of the heartbeat, which is compared to clock. In a great story, it is always important for the reader to feel as if he is a part of the story, and this can only be achieved if the setting is well described.

            Thus, it is easy to see why Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart is still considered a success. Thanks to the brilliance of his writing, the short story is still complex and includes great detail without the endless description paragraphs. The setting is such an important factor, but done in a wrong way, it can ruin a story. Without these detailed time references, the story would have less intrigue and suspense, therefore, be less captivating an experience for the reader.