The Tell Tale Heart

Edgar Allen Poe

Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. It was not a groan of pain or of grief—oh, no!—it was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe. I knew the sound well. Many a night, just at midnight, when all the world slept, it has welled up from my own bosom, deepening, with its dreadful echo, the terrors that distracted me. I say I knew it well. I knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although I chuckled at heart. I knew that he had been lying awake ever since the first slight noise, when he had turned in the bed. His fears had been ever since growing upon him. He had been trying to fancy them causeless, but could not. He had been saying to himself—”It is nothing but the wind in the chimney—it is only a mouse crossing the floor,” or “It is merely a cricket which has made a single chirp.” Yes, he had been trying to comfort himself with these suppositions: but he had found all in vain. All in vain; because Death, in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim. And it was the mournful influence of the unperceived shadow that caused him to feel—although he neither saw nor heard—to feel the presence of my head within the room.

"The Tell Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe

Question
Use the passage to answer the question.

Which statement accurately analyzes how the author’s choices in using juxtaposition define the narrator’s perspective?

(1 point)
Responses

The description of the old man being able to feel but not see or hear the narrator highlights the narrator’s determined planning.
The description of the old man being able to feel but not see or hear the narrator highlights the narrator’s determined planning.

The narrator’s feelings of pity and amusement at the old man’s fear emphasize the narrator’s morbid state of mind.
The narrator’s feelings of pity and amusement at the old man’s fear emphasize the narrator’s morbid state of mind.

The narrator’s sensations of terror and acceptance of death emphasize the narrator’s transition from madness to sanity.
The narrator’s sensations of terror and acceptance of death emphasize the narrator’s transition from madness to sanity.

The description of the old man trying to find logical causes of the noises he hears shows the narrator’s understanding of fearing the unknown.
The description of the old man trying to find logical causes of the noises he hears shows the narrator’s understanding of fearing the unknown.