Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” — Quiz

Question 10 • Literature and Composition IV

Which detail from "The Tell-Tale Heart” best explores the psychology of the narrator?

Answer

“I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening, and the old man sprang up in bed, crying out—‘Who’s there?’”

“And have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the sense?—now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too.”

“The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead.”

“A shriek had been heard by a neighbour during the night; suspicion of foul play had been aroused; information had been lodged at the police office, and they (the officers) had been deputed to search the premises.”

Explanation

Choice B most directly reveals the narrator’s psychology because he insists that his supposed madness is actually unusually sharp hearing, then describes a sound that seems to grow intense to him. This shows his distorted perception and his effort to justify his mental state. The other choices mainly describe events or the police investigation rather than exploring how the narrator thinks and interprets what he hears.

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