Show:
The Narrator
The Narrator
The Old Man
Comprehension Questions
Comprehension Questions
100
How does the narrator feel at the very beginning of the story?
"very, very dreadfully nervous"
100
What is the narrator's second reason as to why he was "not mad"?
He tells the reader of how he "took wise precautions for the concealment of the body."
100
What did the old man do on the eighth night?
He sprang up in bed, and cried out "Who's there?"
100
Where does the story primarily take place?
Inside of the old man's bedroom.
100
What were "death watches"?
A type of beat that makes a ticking sound as it burrows through wood.
200
Does the narrator think he is mad? What is the reason for his stance?
He does not believe he is mad, despite the "disease" that has "sharpened his senses." He supports his stance by telling the reader to "observe how healthy, how calmly" he tells this story.
200
What did the narrator "hear" at the end of the story that caused him to confess his crime?
The beating of the old man's heart.
200
What did the old man do when the narrator leapt toward him?
He shrieked.
200
On what night did the narrator finally kill the old man?
The eighth night.
200
How did the narrator hide the old man's body?
He dismembered the body, and he took up three plankings from the floor and deposited it between the scantlings.
300
Why did the narrator desire to kill the old man?
The narrator was fixated on the old man's eye because it reminded him of a vulture's- a pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever he saw it his "blood ran cold."
300
How did the narrator feel when he finally saw the old man's vulture eye?
He grew furious as he gazed upon it.
300
How many times did the old man shriek?
Once.
300
What did the narrator do, after some time, to give the old man the first clue that he was present?
He opened a very, very little crevice in the lantern, until the light fell on the old man's vulture eye.
300
How did hearing the old man's heart beat effect the narrator?
It increased his fury "as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier to courage."
400
How long did the narrator wait to kill the old man after he sprang up in bed?
He didn't move a muscle for an entire hour.
400
Why did the narrator say that the old man found "all those suppositions in vain"?
Because the old man was trying to comfort himself, saying the noise he heard "was only a mouse" or nothing but the wind in the chimney," but he really knew Death was approaching.
400
What caused the old man's neighbor to call the police?
The neighbor heard him shriek.
400
What steps did the narrator take to prepare to murder the old man? What was keeping him from killing him?
1.The narrator was as nice to the old man as he's ever been during the week before he was to murder him. 2. At every night around midnight, he turned the latch of his door and opened it gently. 3. When he was finally able to open the door far enough for him to poke his head through, he inserted a dark lantern. As he was able to get himself in the door, he allowed a thin ray of light to shine from the lantern. 4. He would sit and stare at the old man sleep every night at midnight. He was unable to kill him because his "vulture eye" was closed.
400
How did the narrator kill the old man?
He leapt into the room, dragged the old man onto the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him.
500
What's the first "sound" the narrator hears while he is standing still after the old man yells? How does it make the narrator feel?
He hears a groan of mortal terror. The narrator knew the sound well, and he "pitied the old man although he chuckled at heart."
500
What did the narrator do to check that the old man was dead?
He placed his hand upon his heart and held it there for many minutes.
500
Was the old man's heart actually beating at the end of the story?
No. "Hearing the old man's heart beat" was a sign of the narrator's madness (mental illness).
500
What sound does the narrator hear due to his "over acuteness of the senses"?
He hears a "low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton...it was the beating of the old man's heart."
500
Describe what happened when the police arrived.
It was 4a.m. The police arrived, but the narrator was not afraid. He showed them around the house, and sat with them in the bedroom, where he had killed and hidden the old man's body well. The officers were satisfied, the narrator had convinced them with his MANNER. He eventually did want them gone.. he was getting pale and began to get a headache. He heard a ringing that grew louder and louder. He then heard that familiar sound- the sound of the old man's heart beating. Convinced that the policemen heard it too, the narrator confessed his crime. He said: "Villians! Dissemble no more! I admit the deed!-tear up the planks!-here, here!-it is the beating of his hideous heart!"