The Telltale Heart is an 1843 short story by Edgar Allen Poe It follows an unnamed narrator who decides to murder an old man because he is disturbed by the man's strange eye. After killing him, the narrator is overwhelmed with paranoia and guilt as he believes that he is repeatedly hearing the man's heart beating in the floorboards below him. He confesses to the police who come by to investigate, believing that it is his own guilt which has caused him to hear the beating of the deceased man's heart.
The Telltale Heart can be used as an interesting essay topic in a variety of different ways. Here are five example essay topics which could be used to explore the themes within the story.
1. Exploring Guilt and Paranoia in The Telltale Heart: In this essay you could explore the narrator's feelings of guilt and paranoia as a result of committing murder. You could look at how his actions cause a perpetual cycle of guilt and increasing paranoia, leading to his own downfall and eventual confession to the police.
2. Madness in The Telltale Heart: The narrator in The Telltale Heart initially believes that he is not mad, and yet his behavior throughout the story clearly puts him in the realm of insanity. This essay could explore both the cause and the effect of his madness, looking at what event or factor drove him to commit murder and then how his ever-increasing level of paranoia leads to his downfall.
3. The Power of Obsession in The Telltale Heart: The narrator’s obsession with the old man’s strange eye is an important factor in The Telltale Heart. This essay could explore the narrator’s fixation with the eye and how it leads him to commit murder, as well as how his obsession with the eye reveals his own psychological state.
4. Contrasting Justice and Injustice in The Telltale Heart: In this essay, you could contrast the justice of the police officers who come to investigate the strange noises in the old house and the injustice of the narrator’s actions. Analyzing how the narrator is ultimately punished for his misdeeds due to his own paranoia could be an interesting perspective.
5. Investigating Metaphors in The Telltale Heart: In this essay you could examine the metaphors present within The Telltale Heart, looking at how the beating of the heart is symbolic of the narrator’s guilt and paranoia. You could also explore how the eye is used as a metaphor for psychological instability.