A narrator is a person who tells a story. A narrator may be inside or outside the story.

Kinds of narrators: First (I, we); second (your, yours); third (he, she, they)

Limited (can only tell the story from their limited knowledge); omniscient (all knowing, ‘eye of God’).

How much can we trust the narrator? eg. Nick Carraway can only tell the story from his perspective. It is potentially unreliable as he doesn’t know the full truth throughout the whole story until the very end.

Tell Tale Heart narrator is a first person, limited narrator. Just their perceptions of the story.

Everything we know about the narrator:

1. The narrator is very paranoid/nervous: “true! — nervous — very, very nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?”;
2. They likely suffered from a mental illness similar to that of schizophrenia or a similar anxiety disorder: “the disease has sharpened my senses.” This is also enhanced by the use of short, jarring sentences in the last paragraph.
3. The motive for the murder was ‘the eye’ that was mentioned: “he had the eye of a vulture — a pale blue eye with a film over it.”
4. They have very strong self control and discipline in slow motion movement: “it took me an hour to place my head within the opening.”
5. They, “loved the old man,” platonically, romantically, or otherwise.
6. They narrator is a murderer;
7. They felt guilt at the end;
8. They planned the murder;
9. et cetera, et cetera.

Everything we can imply about the narrator:

1. Their senses of sight and hearing are very enhanced;
2. The murder was very pre-meditated;
3. The narrator had a strong sense of self and was determined in following through;
4. The narrator is human;
5. The narrator had a close relationship with the old man;