"I believe that the narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart” is sane because he clearly knew what he was doing was wrong, and understood (Or partially understood) reality. The M’Naghten rule states that someone is legally sane if they meet these two conditions. One thing that proves his sanity is when it says “Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire.” in paragraph , sentences . This shows that the narrator understood that the old man did no harm to him, and that he was only going to kill the old man because of his eye, as seen in paragraph 2, where it says “I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture- a pale blue eye with a film over it.”. This shows that the narrator is only killing the old man because of this, because he is afraid of his eye, and that he understood that this was the only reason he was going to kill the old man. In paragraph 3, it says “Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly—very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha!—would a madman have been so wise as this? And then when my head was well in the room, I undid the lantern cautiously—oh, so cautiously—cautiously (for the hinges creaked)—I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye.” This shows that the narrator knows what he is doing, which also proves his sanity. Another detail that proves the narrator’s sanity is when it says “And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber, and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he had passed the night. So you see he would have been a very profound old man, indeed, to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked in upon him while he slept.” in paragraph 3. This shows that the narrator is fully (or nearly fully) aware of what is happening and what he is doing to the old man. Another detail proving that he knows what he is doing is when it says “So I opened it—you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily—until, at length, a single dim ray, like the thread of a spider, shot from out the crevice and full upon the vulture eye.” in paragraph 8. This shows once again, the narrator knows what he is doing. It also says “But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed. I held the lantern motionless. I tried how steadily I could maintain the ray upon the eye.” in paragraph 11, also pointing to his sanity rather than insanity. Another detail that makes him legally sane is when it says “I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human eye—not even his—could have detected any thing wrong. There was nothing to wash out—no stain of any kind—no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary for that. A tub had caught all—ha! Ha!” in paragraph 13. This shows once more that he knows what he is doing. And now, for the second condition, that knows that what he is doing is wrong. Proof of this in the text is when it says “I say I knew it well. I knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although I chuckled at heart. ” in paragraph 7. This shows that the narrator feels sorry for the old man, and another detail that is similar to this, is in paragraph 2, where it says “ Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye!”. This shows that the narrator doesn’t particularly want to kill the old man, and knows that what he’s doing is wrong. These details I have provided show that the narrator is sane."
gimme ur thoughts on it!! :D
