A Murderous Mind
This character becomes increasingly unstable as he obsesses over the raven’s message.
Who is the narrator?
In The Tell-Tale Heart, this part of the old man’s body symbolizes paranoia and the narrator’s guilty conscience.
What is the eye?
The narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart insists he loves the old man but wants to kill him because of this.
What is his vulture eye?
The narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart insists he is not this, despite his erratic behavior.
What is mad?
Montresor and Fortunato walk through this eerie setting before reaching Fortunato’s final resting place.
What are the catacombs?
The narrator of The Cask of Amontillado lures Fortunato into the catacombs by appealing to his love of this.
What is wine?
This piece of furniture, where the raven perches, represents wisdom and maybe even judgment.
What is the bust of Pallas (Athena)?
In The Cask of Amontillado, Montresor claims he must not only punish but do this to his victim.
What is punish with impunity?
“For the love of God, Montresor!” is the last plea from this doomed character.
Who is Fortunato?
This woman, deeply mourned by the narrator, is lost and possibly “buried” in both life and memory.
Who is Lenore?
The narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart visits the old man’s bedroom for this many nights before committing the crime.
What is seven?
In the poem, the raven most likely symbolizes this haunting emotion or idea.
What is grief/depression?
This emotion ultimately leads the narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart to confess his crime.
What is guilt?
“A thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could” is the opening line of this Poe story.
What is The Cask of Amontillado?
The police sit directly above this object, unaware that a dead body is hidden beneath it.
What is the floorboards?
When the narrator first hears the tapping, he thinks it might be this person.
Who is Lenore?
In The Tell-Tale Heart, the sound of the heartbeat represents this emotion consuming the narrator.
What is guilt?
The method Montresor uses to murder Fortunato.
What is walling him up alive?
This one-word phrase is repeated by the raven throughout the poem, driving the narrator mad.
What is "Nevermore"?
The final sound Fortunato makes before Montresor completes his wall of bricks.
What is the jingling of bells?
In The Tell-Tale Heart, what finally causes the narrator to confess to the murder?
What is the sound of the old man's heartbeat?
The Montresor family coat of arms features a foot crushing a snake that bites back, symbolizing this.
What is retribution or revenge?
The narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart compares the old man’s heartbeat to this sound, increasing his anxiety.
What is a ticking clock?
The narrator begs the raven to leave, but the bird stays. What might this suggest about his emotions?
What is that he can’t escape his grief/depression?
The Raven never explains what happened to Lenore, making her fate one of these storytelling devices.
What is a mystery?