The Tell Tale Sign of Misperception
Updated: Sep 21, 2020
I just read the short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edger Allan Poe for the first time. I was very confident I understood the story completely, so I wasn't worried when my mom asked me some questions about it afterwards. My mom said I was missing one crucial thing that makes this story a classic, and told me to read it again. I read it again hoping I would find what I was looking for, yet I found nothing new. I finally asked her what I was missing and was totally shocked by the twist ending I had now missed twice (I won't tell you the ending to keep it a secret).
As it turns out, the narrator of "The Tell-Tale Heart" was supposed to be more psychotic than I originally thought, and the truth of what was really happening in the story was the exact opposite of what the narrator's notion was.
To me, this story proves things are not always as they seem and personal perspective can be misleading. Sometimes seeing in the wrong perspective is not a big deal, but it can also turn out to be a catastrophe if it continues for a long time. For this reason, it's important that people don't just see in their own perspective, but also see themselves through someone else's eyes.
If you have a favorite Edgar Allan Poe short story, please write which one it is in the comments.
