In "The Tell-Tale Heart" Edgar Allan Poe creates suspense by guiding us through the darkness that dwells in the heart and mind of his character. Poe masterfully demonstrates the theme of guilt and its relationship to the narrator's madness. In this classic Gothic tale, guilt is not simply present in the persistently beating heart. It creeps in at the beginning of the story through the eye of the old man and slowly takes hold of the theme without remorse. Through his writings, Poe directly places the narrator's blame on his inability to admit his illness and offers his obsession with imaginary events - the eye's ability to see inside his soul and the sound of a beating heart - as plausible causes of the madness that afflicts him. . After reading the story, the audience wonders whether guilt created the madness or vice versa. The story opens with the narrator explaining his sanity after killing his partner. By immediately presenting the reader with the textbook definition of an unreliable narrator, Poe attempts to distort his audience's perceptions right from the start. This point is further emphasized by his focus on the perceived nexus of madness; the eye. Poe, through the narrator, compares the old man's eye to the eye of a vulture. Since vultures are birds that prey on the weak and depend on sight to hunt, it is easy to deduce that Poe's intention is to connect the narrator's guilt and his interpretation of the events of his life. By equating the eye with the old man's ability to see more than what others see, Poe allows the narrator to explore the idea that this eye can see his weakness; the evil that lies in the narrator's heart and what makes it unacceptable. Knowing that you are damaged makes the narrated…… middle of paper…… insecurity and paranoia. Leading us through a tangled labyrinth of guilt and denial, Poe raises questions about what differentiates guilt from remorse. The audience begins to wonder whether the fixation with the old man's eye is actually a cause of the madness or the result of the narrator's inability to cope with his evil thoughts and the subsequent guilt that such thoughts result from. “The Tell-Tale Heart” takes us through an incredible journey of discovery. By exploring the inherent nature of guilt, Poe shows us that without remorse and acceptance of responsibility the only possible outcome is an endless cycle of projection, guilt, and denial that leads to madness. Works Cited Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Literature: An introduction to fiction, poetry, drama, and writing. Ed. XJ Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 11th ed. New York: Longman, 2010. 37-40. Press.