Symbolism in The Telltale Heart
The Heart
Connotative:
He begins to hear the dead man's heart, and unable to bear the memory of his act any longer, he confesses. "Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! here, here! --It is the beating of his hideous heart!" ( Poe 4).
The heart exposes his conscience, and after hearing it, he is presented as having some type of moral code for the first time.
He hears the old man's heart twice, immediately before killing the old man and when the police are investigating the crime at his house." My head ached, and I fancied a ringing in my ears: but still they sat and still chatted. The ringing became more distinct: --It continued and became more distinct: (Poe 3)
denotative
It is a human heart with a black background
The eye
denotative:
Wide open
sharp
Pale dull blue eye
His eye resembles one of a vulture " He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it" (Poe 1).
The majority of the time, eyes represent intelligence, light, vigilance, moral consciousness, and honesty in literature.
We can see throughout the tale that the narrator rejects the concept that he is insane. This difficulty admitting his identity also explains why he feels enraged anytime he stares into the old man's eye." It was open --wide, wide open --and I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect distinctness "( Poe 2).
connotative:
The narrator is motivated to murder him because his eyes represent awareness and truth, and he refuses to confront his reality because he is frightened that his eye would disclose something that no one can see. ( The fact that he is not mentally stable). "Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees --very gradually --I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever" (Poe 1).
