Question

"The Tell-Tale Heart": Create a doc and respond to the following questions. Your response should be at least a paragraph. The narrator claims he is not mad, do you believe him? What constitutes madness? Cite evidence in your answer that either supports or disproves this claim.

Answer 1

Step-by-step explanation:

In "The Tell-Tale Heart," the narrator claims he is not mad. Whether or not we believe him depends on our understanding of what constitutes madness. Madness can be defined as a state of mental illness or derangement that affects a person's ability to think, perceive, or behave rationally.

The evidence provided in the story can be interpreted both as supporting and disproving the narrator's claim. On one hand, the narrator meticulously plans and executes the murder of the old man, showing a level of cunning and calculation that seems at odds with madness. He also expresses a heightened sense of hearing, claiming to hear the beating of the old man's heart even after he has killed him. This hyper-awareness could be seen as an indication of madness.

On the other hand, the narrator's obsessive behavior, intense paranoia, and the fact that he hears the heartbeat when there is no physical possibility of it being there, suggest a disconnection from reality. He is tormented by guilt, imagining that the sound of the heartbeat is growing louder and accusing him of the crime. This fixation on the heartbeat and his inability to control his emotions may be indicative of madness.

Ultimately, whether or not we believe the narrator's claim of not being mad is subjective and open to interpretation. The evidence presented in the story can be used to support either perspective, highlighting the complex nature of mental illness and the difficulty in defining and understanding madness.

Answer 2

The narrator in 'The Tell-Tale Heart' may be considered mad based on evidence from the story, such as his obsession and erratic behavior.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question asks whether or not the narrator in 'The Tell-Tale Heart' is mad and what constitutes madness. The answer to whether or not the narrator is mad is subjective and open to interpretation. However, there are several pieces of evidence in the story that suggest the narrator's madness. For example, the narrator is obsessed with the idea of the old man's eye, and this obsession drives him to commit murder. Additionally, the narrator's actions and thoughts become increasingly erratic and delusional as the story progresses. These instances of irrational behavior and obsessive thoughts are indicative of madness.