
Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart conveys many concepts, and two of these concepts relate to the power of guilt, and the ability to overcome superficial habits. The credibility of claims relating to these concepts is able to be defended by many reliable sources, such as the American Psychological Association. The power of guilt is seen when Poe endures a mental breakdown after murdering the man with the strange eye, and superficiality is seen in Poe’s distaste for the man despite no evident wrongdoing. These two general mistakes made by Poe, along with the evidence provided in the essay to defend the concepts, can be used to teach the reader what is wrong with certain actions, and how one can prevent doing these actions and even prevent being put in the situation. The lessons that the reader can take away from reading The Tell-Tale Heart are lessons that can be applicable to many situations in everyday life, so highlighting Poe’s mistakes is critical to the reader’s ability to learn from the piece. The power of guilt, along with the importance of breaking superficial habits, are the two most important things to take away from The Tell-Tale Heart, as each concept is taught through the analysis of mistakes that most human beings do not want to make.

The power of guilt is shown in its truest form in The Tell-Tale Heart. After Poe finally does the deed and murders the man with the Evil Eye, he is at first completely content with what happened. He is satisfied with the result, and sees that just a simple cleaning up is all that remains. Poe begins by dismembering the corpse, and then places the dead man’s head, arms, legs, and torso underneath three floorboards that Poe has lifted. Once the body parts were under the boards, Poe carefully constructs the floor back to its original form, and is pleased at the lack of any blood or stains of the sort. Once he has cleared the crime scene, he hears the knocking of three police officers at the door. He opens the door and the officers inform him of a noise complaint sent in by a neighbor that supposedly had heard screaming, but Poe is content enough with his clean up job that he gladly lets the officers enter the home, and even brings chairs into the dead man’s chambers and the four converse there for some time. At this point, Poe is completely in the clear, and cannot be worried by the possibility that his deed is discovered, “But, ere long, I felt myself getting pale and wished them gone. My head ached, and I fancied a ringing in my ears,” (Poe). What Poe is feeling at this moment is guilt, and an excessive amount of it. While he has already been considered positively innocent by the three police officers sitting in front of him, he is unable to forget what he has done, and his mind refuses to forgive his body for committing the crime he did. 

Poe’s guilty conscience continues to make its presence clearer and clearer, and eventually he cannot handle the feeling anymore. Poe begins to pace, trying to get the ringing in his ears to escape him, but to no avail, as he seemingly involuntarily screams to the officers, “dissemble no more! I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! here, here!” (Poe). The amount of guilt collected in Poe’s mind was strong enough to bring this reaction out of him, and this theory is defended by a study conducted by researchers at Princeton University, who were able to come to a conclusion which states, “Guilt is important because it plays a role in regulating our moral behavior. It can help us correct our mistakes and prevent future wrongdoing,” (Hotchkiss). In Poe’s case, the feeling of guilt’s role was to regulate his moral behavior, and it did likely prevent him from committing similar wrongdoings in the future. His moral behavior was regulated in the fact that he did confess for the murder he had committed, and similar wrongdoings are probably unlikely, as it is assumed Poe was taken to jail soon after his violent confession. 

The American Psychological Association conducted a series of studies regarding the feelings of guilt in those that cheat on their significant others. It is never mentioned if Poe was a cheater, but the two situations are rather similar in that fact that whichever party did the deed, cheating or murder, would most likely do about anything to prevent the other party, the significant other or police officers, from discovering that the scandal took place. The experiment conducted does not just simply focus on one’s likelihood to be overcome by guilt, but rather the difference in one’s feeling of guilt after a full confession and after a partial confession. In Poe’s case, there was no chance for a partial confession. If he had confessed to basically anything he had done in the dead man’s house, he would have been arrested and assumed to be the murderer. So, Poe does not give in initially when he first begins to hear the noises in his head while speaking to the police, and he lets the guilty feelings build up to the point where he can no longer take the stress and tells the police everything – a full confession. But the information provided in APA’s study shows that Poe did indeed do the most effective thing in efforts to calm his guiltiness, as those that confess fully will indeed feel less guilty and less stressed after the fact than those that only give a partial confession. The lead researcher of the studies, Eyal Pe’er, PhD, claims, “Confessing to only part of one’s transgressions is attractive to a lot of people because they expect the confession to be more believable and guilt-relieving than not confessing… But our findings show just the opposite is true,” (Hamilton). Poe was being eaten alive by his guilt while sitting across from the officers, and, per the American Psychological Association, his full confession was the most efficient way to relieve himself of that guilty feeling. 

Guilt’s ability to overtake an individual has made plenty of appearances in my personal life, making Poe’s situation somewhat relatable to me. I have never committed murder and covered it up from the police as he did, but I did one time put a hole in my friend’s wall and attempt to get away with it just like Poe. I lied, I said it was not me, and he did truly believe me. Over the next few days following, my guilt began to build at an accelerated rate, and eventually I could not keep the secret from him any longer. I admitted to him that it was me, and I paid him to fix it. The guilt that I felt in this situation regulated my moral behavior to the point where I did the right thing in coming clean, and it also prevented me from making similar mistakes as since then I have not tried to carry on lies, nor have I put another hole in a wall. My confession was similar to Poe’s, barring the screaming, and the lack of wrongdoing since is also something I can relate to.

Guilt’s ability to completely overtake an individual is only one of the many concepts that The Tell-Tale Heart conveys to the reader. Another important lesson that the story teaches is that one should not judge another individual by just one feature that individual possesses, and that individuals should not display superficial habits. Edgar Allen Poe shows a high level of superficiality in the story, in the fact that he judges the man that he murdered solely on his deformed eye. Poe makes it clear to the reader that the man had never wronged him previously, but the presence of the Evil Eye created his strong feeling of hate towards the man, “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! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it,” (Poe). To Poe, the only thing that mattered in judging the man was his strange eye, and this proved to be a significant mistake. 

A common saying in the history of American society is “do not judge a book by its cover.” While often considered elementary, this idea is in full effect in The Tell-Tale Heart. Poe did exactly what the statement influences individuals not to do by having his view of the man clouded by only thinking about his eye, and this mistake did not lead to preferable results for Poe. An article written at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, titled Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover, goes in depth in analyzing how human beings do go about judging other human beings. The article begins with a literal connotation of the phrase and talks about how it is true one cannot determine the content inside of a book by simply viewing its cover. The author then mentions that the most common instance of this superficial action happening in society is how people will judge individuals they do not know based on their beauty, or lack thereof. The article talks about how one looking for a significant other will often be more likely to be drawn to those that are more attractive, but then states, “The prejudice of deciding what to do based solely on outward appearance could cost the pursuer the chance of a meaningful relationship,” (Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover). This is true in Poe’s situation, as he gave up that chance to be friends with a man he claimed to love and admitted had done nothing to ever upset him. Instead of becoming acquaintances, Poe rather focused on the ugly eye on the face of the man, and decided this was means enough to overlook his kindness and murder him. Due to this, Poe killed a man who could have easily instead been his friend, and he paid the price for it when he confessed to the police officers. 

Somewhere earlier in Poe’s life, he met the man with the strange eye for the first time. This initial encounter in not documented anywhere in The Tell-Tale Heart, but the American Psychological Association provides evidence that Poe likely saw the eye and was never able to feel any genuine kindness provided by the man. In the APA article First Impressions Count, the ever so important First Impression is analyzed. All throughout childhood and into adulthood, most people have the idea of first impressions stressed to them, and are told that first impressions last forever. While this message may be pestered into young men and women at an excessive rate at times, a professor at New York University, James Uleman, PhD, confirms its importance, “You don't get a second chance to make a first impression… In spite of the congeniality of many professional gatherings, judgments are being made and impressions formed all the time,” (Rowh). Whether the first encounter between Poe and the man with the strange eye was in a professional setting or not, Uleman makes it clear that first impressions are indeed a one-time thing. 

In the American Psychological Association’s article, the formation of first impressions is analyzed: “Substantial research has affirmed the importance of first impressions while exploring a variety of factors that contribute to their formation. For example, a 2009 study in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin found that factors ranging from clothing style to posture play a role in how impressions are formed,” (Rowh). This evidence defends that just about any feature a person possesses can be reflective of how another individual initially judges them. This argument proves Poe’s case in only judging the man for his deformed eyeball, for the APA is firm in saying that this type of judgement is simply human nature. While a negative first impression of a genuinely kind person is not preferable, this situation is not uncommon, as a weak handshake, poor wardrobe, or ugly eye can make a person completely overlook the true kindness of another individual. 

While both articles regard the concept from The Tell-Tale Heart being analyzed - the importance of overcoming superficiality - they contradict each other in a way. While the American Psychological Association gives evidence as to how first impressions, positive or negative, are simply human nature, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology stresses to the reader that single features of an individual should no dictate the way they are treated by others. What these conflicting ideas come down to is the idea of “superficiality.” Someone that is superficial is only concerned about the external features of an individual, the same way Poe is only concerned about the man’s deformed eye. One that reads both First Impressions Count and Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover should be able to take information from both to determine that, while first impressions are inevitable due to the way the human brain naturally functions, first impressions should not be the only important impressions, and people should be capable of viewing another person as a whole: “It is difficult to change being so superficial, though… Only by looking at the less obvious features can we know what is truly the most outstanding person, object, or idea,” (Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover). If Poe had been made aware of the information provided in both of these articles, then he may have been able to overcome his superficial habits, and look past the man’s ugly eye to see him for the kind man Poe admitted he was. 

While Poe’s superficiality is being criticized, there are very few people on this planet that can say they have never made a judgement purely based on external factors. I can personally relate to Poe’s feelings in many instances, most specifically in my choice of college. I can truly say that absolutely no research went into me applying to the University of South Carolina, nor did any research go into me making my decision to come to the school. I came here because it is warm, there are parties, and I wanted to see what the south was like, which I had no insight on whatsoever before moving in here. I superficially chose this school based on what I saw from the outside, but have since realized that if I had done my research I would have been made aware of many other factors this school has to offer, such as the wonderful business school I am a student in. What I also would have been able to learn is that there is no sign of my Maryland culture here, which I do not like. By superficially choosing my school based on its external features, just the way that Poe judged the man based on his external features, I made the mistake of leaving my normal ways and habits completely behind in acclimating to the south. If I had really looked in to the school, talked to current and former students, and visited before enrolling, I may have possibly made a different decision as to where to get my college education.

Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart provides the reader with many concepts that can be used in everyday life, even many years after its publication. Two of the most important concepts conveyed in the story are that the feeling of guilt can often be plenty strong enough to completely overtake an individual, and that superficial habits will likely get an individual in some sort of trouble. Guilt took over Poe after he committed murder and tried to cover it up, as the guilty feeling was able to regulate his moral behavior and prevent him from making similar mistakes in the future. Ever since his first interaction with the man who had the ugly eye, all Poe could think about was this unattractive feature instead of the kind mannerism he reportedly displayed to Poe. Poe’s superficial habits eventually proved to be deterring as well, and these habits are on full display when he admits the man is nothing but kind, yet Poe still hates him solely due to an ugly feature he possesses – his eye. Guilt and superficiality are two things human beings normally try and avoid, yet the evidence provided show that each can be natural to many. 
