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The Tell-Tale Heart
- 188 statements
- 36 feature instances
- 18 referencing feature instances
| The Tell-Tale Heart | type |
TVTItem | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart | label |
The Tell-Tale Heart | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart | page |
TheTellTaleHeart | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart | comment |
"The Tell-Tale Heart" is an 1843 short story written by Edgar Allan Poe. It is a classic of Gothic Horror and one of his most famous, adapted and referenced works next to The Raven.The narrator tells you nothing about themselves, not even their name or gender, except for the fact that they are not mad! The narrator lives with an old man. The narrator professes to love the old man, but is fixated on the old man's "vulture-like evil eye", to the point that the narrator is driven crazy. The narrator goes on to tell you about the methodical, patient, and extremely thorough way that they set about committing murder.Read it here or hear it read here or here by none other than Bela Lugosi.In 1953, an animated short film of The Tell-Tale Heart was produced by UPA. It was directed by Ted Parmalee, with the story read by none other than James Mason.A song version appears on The Alan Parsons Project's 1976 debut album "Tales of Mystery and Imagination", with remarkably manic vocals by guest artist Arthur Brown. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart | fetched |
2024-03-14T19:16:43Z | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart | parsed |
2024-03-14T19:16:43Z | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_143b5e94 | type |
Loose Floorboard Hiding Spot | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_143b5e94 | comment |
Loose Floorboard Hiding Spot: After the villain protagonist killed the old man, the villain hid the dead body under some loose floorboards before the police arrived to investigate. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_143b5e94 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_143b5e94 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_1869b4b1 | type |
Unreliable Narrator | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_1869b4b1 | comment |
Unreliable Narrator: This story is often used in schools to introduce the concept of the unreliable narrator. The Narrator insists they're sane, but their precision and rationalizing of how well they planned the murder reveal they're an overly nervous, paranoid monomaniac. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_1869b4b1 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_1869b4b1 | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_1869b4b1 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_2c7416bb | type |
Acting Unnatural | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_2c7416bb | comment |
Acting Unnatural: Played with. The narrator describes theirself as calmly and coolly humoring the police, then slowly becoming agitated and wild as they outstay their welcome, until finally, in a frenzy, they start to grind their chair against the floor just to drive away the noise. The officers, in the murderer's eyes, don't seem to notice — suggesting that the men are either waiting for them to confess, or that they never had a firm handle on the situation to begin with and just couldn't perceive the officers' growing nervousness and suspicion. | |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_2c7416bb | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_2d4fa515 | type |
Ax-Crazy | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_2d4fa515 | comment |
Ax-Crazy: The narrator, despite their proclamations to the contrary, is quite a delusional, deranged soul and proves it by violently murdering the old man that lived with them simply because of his strange-looking eye. It doesn't help that they quickly devolve into a ranting, raving wreck when questioned by the authorities. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_2d4fa515 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_2d4fa515 | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_2d4fa515 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_2d50bb66 | type |
Perp Sweating | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_2d50bb66 | comment |
Perp Sweating: The narrator assumes that the cops know what they did and they can hear the heart beating, and are just toying with them. In other words, the perp sweated themself. Given how manic the murderer behaves during the detectives' visit, one wonders whether the detectives really bought the murderer's alibi. It's possible that they were sweating the perp, just not for the reasons that the perp thinks: they didn't hear any heartbeat, they just saw that the perp was psychotic. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_2d50bb66 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_2d50bb66 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_34e095ed | type |
Beat Still, My Heart | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_34e095ed | comment |
Beat Still, My Heart: The Old Man's heart still beats, even in death. Or so the narrator believes. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_34e095ed | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_34e095ed | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_34e095ed | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_3ce914fb | type |
Macabre Moth Motif | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_3ce914fb | comment |
Macabre Moth Motif: A moth flitting through the old man's room and scaring him makes things just that much creepier. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_3ce914fb | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_3ce914fb | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_3ce914fb | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_50b05d30 | type |
Disproportionate Retribution | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_50b05d30 | comment |
Disproportionate Retribution: The narrator kills the Old Man, not because they hate him, but because his hideous eye bothered them that much. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_50b05d30 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_50b05d30 | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_50b05d30 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_5d5cc3fd | type |
Through the Eyes of Madness | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_5d5cc3fd | comment |
Through the Eyes of Madness: Invoked by the opening text, stating, "This story is told through the eyes of a madman...". | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_5d5cc3fd | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_5d5cc3fd | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_61b576af | type |
I Take Offense to That Last One | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_61b576af | comment |
I Take Offense to That Last One: The narrator fully admits to being a murderer but appears bothered at being labeled mad, and tells their story to convince everyone otherwise. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_61b576af | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_61b576af | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_61b576af | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_62434fe2 | type |
Sanity Slippage | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_62434fe2 | comment |
Sanity Slippage: Twice. First, the narrator's obsession with the Old Man's eye grows more and more intense, until they can't take it anymore and kill him. Second, the narrator successfully manages to fool the police into thinking they're innocent, but then they hear what seems to be the Old Man's heart still beating. The sound drives them even more insane until they scream and blow their cover by admitting to the crime. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_62434fe2 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_62434fe2 | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_62434fe2 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_716cdf08 | type |
Vorpal Pillow | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_716cdf08 | comment |
Vorpal Pillow: The narrator kills the old man by smothering him with part of his bed. In the animated version of the story, it's with the covers. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_716cdf08 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_716cdf08 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_75e2bf23 | type |
Chiaroscuro | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_75e2bf23 | comment |
Chiaroscuro: We never see the old house well-lit or in daytime; it's always dark and spooky. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_75e2bf23 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_75e2bf23 | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_75e2bf23 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_7abba202 | type |
The Faceless | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_7abba202 | comment |
The Faceless: Because the short is shot from his point of view, the narrator is never seen, except for his shadow on the prison wall and brief glimpses of his hand. The faces of the cops who come to investigate are never seen in full. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_7abba202 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_7abba202 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_7fe66618 | type |
You Can See That, Right? | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_7fe66618 | comment |
You Can See That, Right?: The narrator thinks the cops can hear the old man's heart. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_7fe66618 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_7fe66618 | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_7fe66618 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_898ff050 | type |
Villain Protagonist | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_898ff050 | comment |
Villain Protagonist: The narrator is a murderer, and their tale concerns the murder they committed. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_898ff050 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_898ff050 | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_898ff050 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_8c41d6e9 | type |
Nameless Narrative | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_8c41d6e9 | comment |
Nameless Narrative: None of the characters are given actual names. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_8c41d6e9 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_8c41d6e9 | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_8c41d6e9 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_957e5fc2 | type |
Villainous Breakdown | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_957e5fc2 | comment |
Villainous Breakdown: The narrator hears the old man's heart beating through the floor, growing ever louder. Eventually, the narrator starts screaming, swearing, and smashing at the floorboards where they've buried the old man's corpse, finally confessing to the police just to make the noise stop. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_957e5fc2 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_957e5fc2 | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_957e5fc2 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_95b7c400 | type |
Faux Affably Evil | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_95b7c400 | comment |
Faux Affably Evil: The narrator, who apparently was never nicer to the Old Man than during the week before they murdered him. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_95b7c400 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_95b7c400 | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_95b7c400 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_99208bf0 | type |
Eye Motifs | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_99208bf0 | comment |
Eye Motifs: Throughout the film, the camera focuses on white round objects—the full moon, a water pitcher, some lightbulbs—that represent the narrator's obsession with the Old Man's eye. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_99208bf0 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_99208bf0 | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_99208bf0 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_9e08b900 | type |
Most Definitely Not a Villain | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_9e08b900 | comment |
Most Definitely Not a Villain: The narrator constantly insists that they are sane, despite some pretty good evidence to the contrary, such as murdering an old man for having a really creepy eye. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_9e08b900 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_9e08b900 | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_9e08b900 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_a68421bb | type |
Animated Adaptation | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_a68421bb | comment |
Animated Adaptation: One which uses a very effective minimalist style, with angular shapes and little movement. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_a68421bb | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_a68421bb | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_a68421bb | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_a95fbce6 | type |
Mad Eye | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_a95fbce6 | comment |
Mad Eye: The Old Man has, by the narrator's account, a vulture's eye, with a blue iris and a film over it. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_a95fbce6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_a95fbce6 | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_a95fbce6 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_ac6ea68c | type |
Near-Villain Victory | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_ac6ea68c | comment |
Near-Villain Victory: The narrator's manners and hospitality convinces the officers that nothing was amiss, and they likely would have gotten away with the murder. Then they hear the old man's heart beating again... | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_ac6ea68c | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_ac6ea68c | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_ac6ea68c | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_ad7a381d | type |
P.O.V. Cam | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_ad7a381d | comment |
P.O.V. Cam: After an establishing shot, the entire short takes place from the perspective of the narrator. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_ad7a381d | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_ad7a381d | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_ad7a381d | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_ae5686dd | type |
Terrible Ticking | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_ae5686dd | comment |
Terrible Ticking: The Trope Maker. The narrator thinks they can hear the Old Man's heart, even after they killed him. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_ae5686dd | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_ae5686dd | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_ae5686dd | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_c6aa9afc | type |
First-Person Perspective | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_c6aa9afc | comment |
First-Person Perspective: The story is told from the POV of the Unreliable Narrator. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_c6aa9afc | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_c6aa9afc | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_c6aa9afc | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_c866231c | type |
The Mentally Disturbed | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_c866231c | comment |
The Mentally Disturbed: It's not clear exactly what is wrong with the narrator, just that they're certifiably mad, despite their claims to the contrary. The clearest bits we do get is the narrator definitely suffers from monomania and likely a delusional mind, possibly schizophrenia. Another theory suggests if they can hear as well as they claim to, they're likely suffering from misophonia, an intense adverse reaction to certain noises, on top of their schizophrenia. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_c866231c | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_c866231c | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_cb70651c | type |
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_cb70651c | comment |
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It's left up in the air whether the narrator did in fact hear the old man's continuing heartbeat, if it was merely the result of a fit of delusional guilt and paranoia, or if it was the death watch beetles in the walls of the old house, which make their own little ticking noises. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_cb70651c | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_cb70651c | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_cdfe12c3 | type |
Nothing Is Scarier | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_cdfe12c3 | comment |
Nothing Is Scarier: In-universe. The old man is terrified, sitting up in the dark for what is apparently hours at a time in pitch blackness because a noise at night woke him up. The narrator even comments that they can hear the old man whimpering in mortal terror. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_cdfe12c3 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_cdfe12c3 | featureConfidence |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_cdfe12c3 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_e034faef | type |
Limited Animation | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_e034faef | comment |
Limited Animation: More so than UPA's other shorts. A moth, some creeping shadows, the Old Man's sheets as he's being murdered, and a handful of figures walking in the distance are about all there is animation-wise. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_e034faef | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_e034faef | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_e3f34fb4 | type |
Featureless Protagonist | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_e3f34fb4 | comment |
Featureless Protagonist: invokedA non-video game example. The reader is never told anything about what the narrator looks like (including their gender), or anything about their past. This had led to various Epileptic Trees about who the narrator is and how they're related to the Old Man. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_e3f34fb4 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_e3f34fb4 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_e624f0e8 | type |
Suspiciously Specific Denial | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_e624f0e8 | comment |
Suspiciously Specific Denial: The narrator insists that they aren't insane, including in the first line of dialogue, chalking up the things they see and hear in their insanity to just having very acute sight and hearing. The narrator claims that they didn't want the old man's gold — if there was gold to have. | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_e624f0e8 | featureApplicability |
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| The Tell-Tale Heart | hasFeature |
The Tell-Tale Heart / int_e624f0e8 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_ed581814 | type |
Dismembering the Body | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_ed581814 | comment |
Dismembering the Body: The Villain Protagonist dismembers his victim's body and hides it under the floorboards. This does not stop him from imagining/hearing the corpse's heart beating while the police are visiting, driving him to expose his own crime. | |
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The Tell-Tale Heart / int_ed581814 | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_f8f71b5f | type |
Buried Alive | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_f8f71b5f | comment |
Buried Alive: The narrator thinks the old man they killed is, but it's a product of their mind. | |
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The Tell-Tale Heart / int_f8f71b5f | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart / int_name | type |
ItemName | |
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The Tell-Tale Heart |
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