In "The Tell-Tale Heart," how does the author create suspense?

Poe chooses to employ first-person narration in his short story "The Tell-Tale Heart," and this decision contributes greatly to the feeling of suspense that dominates the writing.

The narrator tells the story from his own point of view, which allows the reader to get inside his head; this glimpse into the inner workings of the narrator's unbalanced psychology allows the reader to feel what the narrator feels. As the narrator becomes more and more unsteady and disoriented in his descriptions, the reader can't help but feel unsteady and disoriented as well, wondering what will happen next.

The word choice and the pacing of the narrator combine with the first-person point of view to enhance the reader's appreciation of the narrator's instability, an experience that makes the reading of the story suspenseful. From the start of the story, the narrator employs words such as "nervous," "mad," and "disease" to describe his state of mind. The use of exclamation points speed up the pacing, lending the narration a sense of panic. As the narrator becomes overwhelmed by his experience, his sentences become alternately choppy and lengthy, as if he is unable to temper his own speech. This erratic style of narration also heightens the suspenseful emotion of the story.

Poe was a master at creating suspense. He is able to create suspense by introducing us to an unstable narrator (what we can an unreliable narrator) who clearly is mentally ill. Because of this, the reader does not know what to expect from him. This definitely builds suspense when the reader can bet on the unexpected from a narrator.

One of the main events that builds suspense is when the narrator watches the boarding house owner at night, staying still for the entire night. The reader is there with him while he does this and while he plots to kill the boarding house owner.

Also, Poe uses stream of consciousness in this story and as the narrator lets the police into the boarding house, the narrator's thoughts become more and more fragmented until the narrator screams his admission of guilt.

How does sound create atmosphere and suspense in "The Tell-Tale Heart"?

The sound of the beating heart is used to create an atmosphere of terror, guilt, and questionable sanity. The heart makes ‘‘a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton,’' and continues even after the old man is dead: ‘‘many minutes, the heart beat on.’’ The beating heart is compared to the ticking of a watch, repetitively beating, driving the narrator to the brink of insanity. There is a strong theme of time, as seen in the watch references, and the sense of running out of time. The old man's life ran out of time, and the beating heart that the narrator hears counts down his time as a free man.

The narrator opens the old man's door "cautiously--oh so cautiously..." to keep it from creaking, an unnerving sound of itself.  But, the eerieest of sounds is the old man's "groan of mortal terror"; he knows in advance that the narrator plans to kill him.  Describing this groan as not of grief or pain, the narrator says,  I

It was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe. I knew the sound well...It has welled up from my own bosom, deepening with its dreadful echo, the terrors that distracted me.

His echoings of this terror create suspense; How can the narrator feel a similar terror?  Is he horrorified by what is in his own mind?

Later, in the narrator's increased sensitivity,much like that of Roderick Usher in "The House of Usher,"the narrator hears "a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton."  This is the sound of the old man's heart, the narrator explains. As this sound "grows louder" to the narrator, he expresses that he is excited to "uncontrollable terror."  In a bizarre state of mind, the narrator fears that a neighbor will hear this sound,so, shrieking in madness, he rushes into the room and kills the old man.

After the police officers arrive, he fancies "a ringing in my ears," the sound of a watch again.  This must be his conscience. Now he cannot silence it with murder,so he confesses.

In "The Tell-Tale Heart," how does the character's inaction create tension?

Poe creates tension and builds suspense by having the narrator prolong his crime and wait until the opportune time to kill the old man. For seven consecutive nights, the narrator quietly opens the old man's door and peeks his head inside the room. The narrator's slow movements are deliberate as he cautiously moves without waking the defenseless old man. The narrator writes that it would take him an hour to stick his head completely into the room before opening the lantern to view the old man's eye.

This repetitive act of spying heightens the tension as the reader wonders how the narrator will commit the murder. The inaction also creates tension as the reader begins to sympathize with the vulnerable old man. The reader can imagine what it is like to be spied on night after night, which is both disturbing and unsettling.

On the eighth night, the narrator's inaction is lengthened when the old man awakens. The narrator is forced to remain completely still for a whole hour as the old man listens closely to his surroundings. This inaction builds suspense as the reader anticipates the murder. When the narrator initially opens a crevice in the lantern, he continues to remain still as he hears the old man's heart begin to beat furiously. This inaction captivates the reader's imagination as they feel they are standing in the room, anxiously waiting for the murderer to strike.

The tension rises as the narrator refrains from taking action and the reader anticipates his next move. The narrator continues to build suspense by fragmenting the narrative and repeating stimulating words. When he finally opens the lantern, the light shines directly onto the old man's eye, which prompts the narrator to pounce on the old man and suffocate him to death.

How does the setting of "The Tell-Tale Heart" create tension?

Firstly, the story takes place at night. During the night, it is dark and usually quiet outside, since most people are inside sleeping (of course, this is not the case in a city, usually). So, we are already unnerved because it is so dark and limits what we can see. The only light in the first half of the story comes from the narrator's lantern, and he describes what is and is not illuminated by it.

Secondly, the house itself feels creepy and closed off from the world outside. We don't get a super detailed description of the house at any point. We can assume it isn't a grand mansion, but otherwise, the narrator only describes the existence of certain rooms, like the bed-chamber or the front doorway. However, in describing how he placed the remains of his victim beneath the floorboards, we see how the narrator hides his own madness/evil and for the most part, can appear to be a normal guy around other people.

The lack of detail about the house also relates to the narrator's personality, which alone could set the reader on edge with tension. Like the lantern he holds, he hides things from us the audience and shows us only what he wants us to see. The more he keeps us in the dark (literally and metaphorically), the more control he has over us psychologically.

So, the setting contributes a great deal to the suspense. Its remoteness and lack of light make it seem treacherous. The narrator's sparse detail in describing it makes it seem more mysterious. And it makes us all the more reliant on this madman for getting the details of the story.

You may wish to look at responses in this Question and Answer Group, especially two other questions on the topic of tension.  See the sites below.

Certainly, the night setting adds to the eeriness of the setting, especially as the beam of the lantern, much like a laser light, focuses upon the old man's eye, just as the singularly obsessive mind of the narrator perceives the blue-filmed "vulture eye" as the object of evil.  In the morning, however, the narrator acts as though he cares for the old man--he does insist that he loves him--by inquiring "how he had spent the night...."

After the murder the narrator buries the dismembered corpse under the floor:  "When I had made an end of these labors, it was four o'clock--still dark as midnight.  The persistent darkness suggests the evil of the narrator's deed and creates to the tension/horror of the story.

The narrator keeps peeking his head in the old man's door "every night just at midnight".  That is eerie; imagine, while you are sleeping, at your most defenseless, a kooky stalker just staring at you.  Then because it is night, "His room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness".  This darkness makes for a very intense scene when the old man thinks he hears a noise-he peers into the darkness, but can't see anything.  He just sits there in pure terror, trying to see, but can't.  What awful suspense!  They both sit, still, "amid the dreadful silence of that old house". 

The setting is perfect for suspense: an old, creepy house, the dead of the night, in pitch black. 

What details does Poe use to build suspense in "The Tell-Tale Heart"?

Poe’s use of the first-person perspective in his narration enables him to build a deeper connection to the reader: it feels as if the narrator is actually telling you the story. However, a feeling of suspense results from the confusion and mental instability this narrator experiences, which makes him unreliable and causes the reader to become curious about what the narrator may be choosing not to reveal. The narrator’s voice and choice of words dictate the tone of the story and create tension as the reader wonders what is actually happening.

Suspense also results from Poe’s sentence structure, which contributes to the pacing and overall flow of the story. His sentence structure reflects the narrator’s increasingly unstable state of mind; shorter sentences create faster pacing as the narrator’s thoughts become more and more disjointed. This also serves to build tension towards the ending of the story, where the narrator is finally overwhelmed by guilt and confesses his crime.

Overall, the suspense and the elements of horror that are present in this story are the direct result of Poe’s choices about point of view (first person), pacing, and sentence structure. These elements serve to keep the reader interested and curious throughout the tale.

How does character description in "The Tell-Tale Heart" create tension?

The first such characterization intended to create tension is that of our murder victim. We are told that he has a great glaring eye, and that his personality is, at best, disagreeable. From the start, we are aware that people's feelings toward the victim are less than charitable.

The officers who arrive to investigate in the story take their dear sweet time doing their jobs, and seem so casual and lax that the reader is biting their nails waiting for the inevitable discovery to take place. All the while, our protagonist remains oppressed by his conscience, and his inner struggle with the act he committed makes the story near-palpable. The student would be amiss if he/she did not at least mention the narrator in response to this question.