FROM THE BLACK CAULDRON TO THE WHITE PAGE: THE WITCH AS A NARRATOR OF POE’S “THE TELL-TALE HEART”

Year 2024, Volume: 14 Issue: 27, 175 - 189, 31.01.2024

Ebrahim Al-khaffaf

https://doi.org/10.33207/trkede.1296008

Abstract

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” is a famous short story of crime fiction first published in 1843. The tale starts with an unnamed and unreliable narrator addressing an unknown person, often regarded as the reader, about the details of a crime that the narrator had committed in the past. Many details such as the relationship between the narrator and the victim (who happened to be an old man), the motivation behind the crime, the gender of the narrator, and many other related issues are not sufficiently explained in the story. Nevertheless, critics have provided various ideas and interpretations as to what remained ambiguously unstated in the story. This paper aims to look at the story from a quite different perspective, that is to say, this paper will point to the possibility that the narrator could be a young female servant who is secretly involved in some witchcraft practices. This hypothesis will be established by highlighting relevant ritual elements in the tale which suggest that the narrative includes more than a mere portrayal of a perfect crime. Additionally, before launching into the examination of the story, this paper will review some critics’ significant suppositions as well as interpretations of some inexplicit notions of the story.

Keywords

Poe, Witchcraft, Rationality, Irrationality, Truth

FROM THE BLACK CAULDRON TO THE WHITE PAGE: THE WITCH AS A NARRATOR OF POE’S “THE TELL-TALE HEART”

Abstract

Edgar Allan Poe'nun ilk kez 1843'te yayınlanan “Gammaz Yürek” adlı eseri ünlü bir polisiye öyküdür. Hikâye, isimsiz ve güvenilmez bir anlatıcının, genellikle okuyucu olarak kabul edilen bilinmeyen bir kişiye, anlatıcının geçmişte işlediği bir suçun ayrıntıları hakkında hitap etmesiyle başlar. Anlatıcı ile (yaşlı bir adam olan) kurban arasındaki ilişki, suçun arkasındaki motivasyon, anlatıcının cinsiyeti ve diğer birçok ilgili konu gibi birçok detay hikâyede yeterince açıklanmamıştır. Bununla birlikte, eleştirmenler, hikâyede muğlak kalan noktalara dair bazı fikirler ortaya atıp çeşitli yorumlarda bulunmuşlardır. Bu makale, hikâyeye oldukça farklı bir perspektiften bakmayı amaçlamaktadır, yani bu makale, anlatıcının, bazı büyücülük uygulamalarına gizlice karışan genç bir kadın hizmetçi olabileceği ihtimaline işaret edecektir. Bu hipotez, anlatının mükemmel bir suç tasvirinden daha fazlasını içerdiğini öne süren masaldaki ilgili ritüel unsurların altı çizilerek kurulacaktır. Ek olarak, öykünün incelenmesine başlamadan önce bu makale, bazı eleştirmenlerin önemli varsayımlarının yanı sıra öyküyle ilgili açık olmayan bazı kavramların yorumlarını da gözden geçirecektir.

Keywords

Poe, Cadılık, Akılcılık, İrrasyonalite, Hakikat

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