Edgar Allan Poe, a renowned writer, who is especially known for his mysterious stories and gruesome tales, has written over the years a broad range of compelling literary works, and my favorite is his short story "The Tell-Tale Heart." "The Tell-Tale Heart" is told by an unidentified narrator who attempts to persuade the reader that he is sane while wildly describing, with vivid detail, a murder he committed.
What struck me the most about this short story is Poe's ability to capture the feelings of a crazed murderer, allowing me to truly understand the thoughts and sensations of the madman persona. Throughout my reading of "The Tell-Tale Heart" I began to notice that, much like most of Poe's other works that I have been exposed to, the narrator is in an outright mad and unstable mental state. The process of understanding the inner thoughts of an unsound mind can be tremendously thought-provoking. Just from reading the opening paragraph of "The Tell-Tale Heart," I instantly realized the extent of madness of the narrator but was at the same time intrigued by the level of his self-denial; he insists that he is not mad but claims to hear things that occur both in heaven and hell. This absurd idea, along with many others from "The Tell-Tale Heart", makes the short story highly interesting and is one of the main contributors to the high level of appeal of Poe's works.
