Throughout the story, the beating heart represents the narrator's guilt and worsening sanity, as it serves as a reminder of his crime.
Explanation:
The story in question is a short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" written by Edgar Allan Poe.
The narrator of the story insists on being sane but claims that he is suffering from a disease characterized by what he describes as<em> over-acuteness of the senses. </em>He lives with an old man who has a clouded, pale, blue vulture-like eye. That eye distresses the narrator so much that he decides to murder the old man, which he eventually does. What overwhelmed him right before the murder was the sound of the old man's beating heart. When the police come, the narrator again hears the beating heart, which leads him to confess his crime.
The options you were given are the following:
- It represents the narrator’s own death, like the old man’s, drawing near as he faces punishment for his crime.
- It shows there is something supernatural happening to the narrator, for the ghost of the old man is haunting him.
- It represents the narrator’s guilt and worsening sanity, for the beating heart serves as a reminder of his crime.
- It signifies the narrator’s anxiety about not burying the old man respectfully after killing him.
We can conclude that the beating heart represents the narrator's guilt and worsening sanity, as it reminds him of the crime he committed. Unable to cope with the guilt, he confesses.
Learn more about Edgar Allan Poe's work here: brainly.com/question/2486691
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