Final answer:
The theme of Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Tell-Tale Heart' deals with guilt, sanity, and the human psyche, illustrated through the narrator's internal conflict and ultimate breakdown due to the weight of their own guilt after committing murder.
Step-by-step explanation:
The theme of the story 'The Tell-Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe revolves around guilt, sanity, and the human psyche. The theme shines through by the constant inner conflict of the narrator, who insists on their sanity while describing their meticulous murder of an old man, only to be overwhelmed by their own guilt. This guilt is represented by the hallucinated sound of the old man's still-beating heart, which leads to the narrator's confession. Furthermore, the repetition of the narrator's insistence on their own sanity suggests a deeper theme of the nature of guilt and its capability to undermine sanity.
To examine the theme, one must consider the conflict present in the story, which is both internal and external. The narrator struggles with their inner guilt while also trying to maintain control over the external situation. This duality emphasizes the underlying message about the consequences of criminal actions on one's psyche and the inevitable breakdown that comes from trying to suppress that guilt.
Overall, the theme of the story serves as a broader commentary on humanity and the psychological effects of guilt and crime, making it a compelling subject for a reader's analysis.