Question

Which of the following excerpts from the short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe best demonstrates the unreliability of the narrator? You should have seen how wisely I proceeded—with what caution—with what foresight—with what dissimulation I went to work! I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily—how calmly I can tell you the whole story. And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. 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

Answer 1

Answer:

"How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily—how calmly I can tell you the whole story."

Explanation:

In this wonderful and dark story by Poe, one can see what an unreliable narrator is at its most climatic and excellent form. The narrator repeats several times that he cannot be mad, that he is lucid, oh, how very lucid, and yet, everything he recounts, everything he does, expresses a level of madness that makes the reader almost tremble with fear.

Answer 2

How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily—how calmly I can tell you the whole story.