Tell Tale Heart
Why did the narrator kill him on the eight night?
As usual he walked into the room to shine the light on his eye, but the old man heard him and lay awake for a long time. Narrator shines the light on his eye and it was open. The old man shrieked and his heart started beating loudly. narrator thought neighbors were going to hear him, so he killed him then.
At first, how does the narrator behave in the presence of the police?
He acts innocent and is confident that the police won't find the body because it is so well hidden.
Why does the narrator want to kill the old man?
Because the old man's vulture eye tormented him and he had to rid himself of it forever.
Why do the police come over to narrator's house?
Because they got a report from a neighbor saying they heard a shriek.
What does the narrator fear?
He fears that he will get caught.
Why did the narrator wait so long to kill the old man?
He is sort of practicing (and because he is just insane) to kill him. He walks in every night for seven nights and slowly walks into the room and opens the lantern a little bit so a little sliver of light shines on the vulture eye while he is asleep.
What makes the narrator very agitated when he was talking with the police?
He started to hear the dead man's heartbeat again very loudly.
How did the narrator kill the old man?
He suffocated him with his heavy bed.
How does the narrator try to lead us to believe he is not mad?
He tells the story in a calm way to try to prove his sanity. He tells us at the end of the story that he is not mad.
What was the real reason he confessed?
He was overcome by his own guilt of murder.
Was it really a heartbeat that the narrator was hearing?
No, he confused the old man's ticking watch with his excited heartbeat. When he buried the body, he neglected to remove the watch.
At what point in time did the old man start to get scared?
On night eight he was startled by a noise and sat up in bed listening for a while.
Is the narrator mad?
Yes, he has a nervous disease.
crevice
a narrow opening, especially in a rock or cliff
gesticulation
exagerrated and energetic gestures of the hands
disimulation
fake, to disguise or conceal under a false circumstance. the hiding of ones feeling.
suavity
graceful politeness
what did he think the police were doing?
he thought the police really knew that he killed the old man and were mocking him and merely trying his patience.
acute
sensitive, piercing, sharp
sagasity
sound judgement, someone who thinks they are making a really good judgement call
