The Tell-Tale Heart

Insanity can be most closely experienced by sane people when they are inebriated (intoxicated). Drunk people can be described as insane, according to the definition of the word by a criminal trial. They cannot distinguish fantasy from reality. They are subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior. And they could not tell right from wrong or control their behavior. They can break into someone’s house, steal valuable things, or even (in worst case scenarios) attempt murders! Regardless, they are guilty. But, they had no idea what they were doing! They couldn’t control their actions! Sure, they are guilty. But should they get harsh punishments for doing something that they technically did not do? Yes, physically they did commit these crimes. But they were not there mentally. They were in a temporary state of complete craziness As this trial proceeds, I hope that you will keep that in mind and remember that the defendant could not distinguish right from wrong.

The defendant should not have to face the death penalty for an insane act, because his state of well-being was as if he was intoxicated. He was not in control of his of his behavior and we cannot force responsibility on a man who was clearly not in a moral mindset. Any sane man would not have turned himself in because he “heard” a heartbeat. Any sane man would not have heard the heartbeat of a corpse in the first place! No man should be executed because of the actions caused by a tempestuous alter-ego.

Many actions as told by himself in “The Tell-Tale Heart” proves just how completely mad he is. For one, he is afraid of a “vulture’s eye” that can easily make his blood run cold. There is no such thing as a vulture’s eye in a human that can cause such fright and chaos. That is plain crazy. Furthermore, it says he loves this man - “I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult.” Even the mere thought, the tiniest consideration, of murdering someone you love! That can send many people into immediate shock and make them flinch at even considering the consideration of this killing. It is absolutely preposterous and offensive. Evidently, the defendant was easily in a crazy state of absurdity.

Moreover, the defendant keeps pressing that he is nervous, but sane. Now, what sane person would argue that he is sane if insanity could keep him from death? That again, says that he is utterly psychotic. Then, after the murder, he “dismembered the corpse.” Then, he buried it under the floors of the chamber. That is totally normal, right? To bury a decapitated, dismembered, stinky, corpse of a man you once loved, under the planks of you home? Is that seriously sane? In no universe, whatsoever, is that acceptable! In addition, the accused “hears” a heartbeat - specifically the “beating of [the old man’s] disgusting heart”, more specifically the beating of the dead man’s heart. That