The irony in Poe’s The Tell―Tale Heart

【Abstract】Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Tell-Tale Heart begins and ends with a tone of horror. It is complete with strong foreshadowing， subtle irony， and vivid symbolism which lead to an enormously impressive story. This paper will focus on the irony and its function in it.

【key words】setting， horror， verbal irony， dramatic irony

Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart is simultaneously a horror story. It shows us the dark side of human beings .Human beings all born with flaws and merits， with both good and evil side. However， sometimes when something happened in a bad way， the evil part would take over our mind. In the story， the narrator killed the old man， but his conscience had made him feel guilty. Poe uses irony to increase tension， enhance the horror， lead to an enormously impressed story.

The story is a monologue by a murderer， nameless and sexless， but for the sake of this paper I will refer to as he. In the first person narrative， the protagonist claims that a nervous disease has greatly sharpened his sense perceptions， he is proud of his cleverness. Dreading one vulture-like eye of the old man， his landlord， whom he think kind and lovable， he determines to kill him. Each night he spies on the sleeping old man， but finding the eye shut， he stays his hand. On the eighth night， finding the eye open， he suffocated the eye’s owner beneath the heavy mattress and conceals the dismembered body under the floor of the bedchamber. Entertaining some inquiring police officers in the very room where the body lies hidden， the murder again hears the beat of his victim’s heart. Terrified， convinced that the police also hear the heartbeat growing louder， the killer confessed.

The Tell-Tale Heart is a short and to the point story， with every word contributing to the central issue， which combines the narrator's previous terrors， the old man's current terrors， and the terrors for the narrator yet to come. The protagonist in this story proves to be round characters as he is well developed and closely involved in the main action. There are a few background characters such as the old man， three policemen. Although extremely relevant to each story， they are flat and not very well developed. The setting is basically irrelevant； all that is known is that it is a shuttered house full of wind， mice， and treasures， and it is pitch dark even in the afternoon. Most of the action occurs each night around midnight.

Characters make the story what it is. They evoke emotions from the reader and are the basis for what literary critics and everyday readers alike form their opinions on. Characters can be relatable， or as far-fetched as the immoral protagonists Poe has created. The protagonist proves to be round characters as they are well developed and closely involved in the main action. There are a few background characters in these stories such as the old man and police in “The Tell Tale Heart”， these characters， although extremely relevant to each story， are flat and not very well developed. Poe chooses to use his protagonist as the main character and the driving force for the plot.

“The disease had sharpened my senses not destroyed， not dulled them.” In my opinion this is ironic， because he believed that his insanity was an asset to his situation， when really it brought about his downfall.

The ending is the greatest irony that after all of his careful planning， he ended up admitting his crime and tells the officers to tear up the planks.

In this story， there is also Dramatic irony which pertains to the part that the reader is aware of something that the character knows nothing of. “If still you think me mad， you will think me so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body，” We know more than the narrator； we know he is mad.

Poe uses this particular first person point of view to heighten the suspense and horror. The main character go on with life trying to convince himself that he isn’t sick， as he is committing such vicious and heinous acts against humanity .This is also evident as the narrator proclaims “True- nervous- very， very dreadfully nervous I had been and am； but why will you say that I am mad？” He becomes meretricious narrators， carefully deceiving himself of the root of his evils， thus creating dramatic irony. This point of view chosen by Poe eliminates the need for superfluous material from background characters and outside sources， and enhances his alluring writing feature of horror and disgust.

Bibliography

[1] 曹明伦译 《爱伦・坡集》 北京：三联书店，1995

[2]陈良廷，徐汝春译 《爱伦・坡短篇小说集》 北京：外国文学出版社，1982

作者简介：陈冬云，女，河北省唐山人，英语语言文学硕士，唐山职业技术学院副教授，主要从事英语教学。