Character and Point of View in "The Tell-Tale Heart"

Using first person point of view is significant in that it allows the reader to engage in the thoughts of the narrator and, thus, make a conclusion about his or her character. In Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," the reader can conclude based on the thoughts and remarks of the narrator that he is deranged and suffers from symptoms similar to those of paranoid schizophrenia. The narrator reveals his anxiety toward the reader and other characters …

…as the story ends, and the narrator is engulfed with the old man's beating heart he exclaims, "and now--again! --hark! louder! louder! louder! louder!" (Paragraph 17). Presenting the story through the eyes of the narrator, revealed his insanity to the reader. If perhaps the story was told through the eyes of other characters such as the policeman, the reader would be unable or less likely to draw an accurate conclusion about the character of the narrator.