The Tell-Tale Heart written by Edgar Allan Poe is a short story in which there is not an abundance of

characters. Two fundamental characters can be seen, that is, the young assassin who says in Poe’s Tell-
Tale Heart "I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him" (727) who
is the character who narrates the story and the protagonist at the same time, and the old man who has
a sick eye, who is the victim of the action. The young protagonist from my point of view is mad, because
he feels satisfaction planning the murder of the old man and also laughs while he plans it, which gives a
feeling of terror, according to what Edgar Allan Poe wrote in The Tell-Tale Heart " I knew what the old
man felt, and pitied him, although I chuckled at heart. I knew that he had been lying awake ever since
the first slight noise, when I had turned in the bed.” (728) The relationship between the young man and
the old man is unknown, it is only known that they live in the same house and in my opinion the young
man is dedicated to caring for the old man due to his illness.

As for the tone, this is one of terror and it is achieved through the voice of the protagonist, which
questions the fact that we are facing a clearly insane man or victim of a disease that sharpened his
senses.

Regarding symbolism, we can talk about the lantern, which can be interpreted as the criminal's paranoid
obsession since he only sees what the light beam he projects illuminates, that is, the old man's sick eye;
therefore everything else remains in the dark, he does not give importance. The heart is another
symbol, which in addition to being the title, can be interpreted as the heart of the old man whose
heartbeat, perceived by the ear of the young murderer, provokes in him a panic and fear since he does
not want the neighborhood to hear it too, and this leads him to make the decision to kill the old man.