The Tell-Tale Heart
The Tell-Tale Heart
by Edgar Allan Poe

The Tell-Tale Heart Symbolism, Imagery & Allegory

Sometimes, there’s more to Lit than meets the eye.

The Old Man's Eye

The old man's eye is blue with a "film" or "veil" covering it. This could be a medical condition, like a corneal ulcer, but symbolically it means that the characters have issues with their "inner v...

The Watch

The narrator mentions a "watch" four times in the story. A watch is a visual and auditory representation of time. The watch watches time, and tells tales of time. Time can also be said to be watchi...

The Lantern

This lantern is pretty cool. You can burn a candle or oil in it (doesn't say which in the story), but it has hinged panels that can be adjusted to let in as much or as little light as you want. The...

The Bed and Bedroom

The bed in "The Tell-Tale Heart" symbolizes the opposite of what beds and bedrooms should be about. The narrator violates all bedroom etiquette, by exploiting the vulnerability of one who is sleepi...
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