Ego-Evil and “The Tell-Tale Heart” by: Magdalen Wing-chi Ki
The Focus is on the Eye
This article suggests that in The Tell-Tale the old man’s eye is a symbol of Ego-Evil. That is, that the ego sees and judges the other subjectively but the other has the “power to look back and topple the ego, while the other-in-the-self can further derail the self.” Ego-evil is about the self’s “over identification with its views and interests” which leads to a narcissistic qualities.
The author shows this through…
- Biblical essence
- Focus on the “eye” and “I”
He claims that there are two different stages of Ego-Evil throughout the story as the narrator describes himself through the narcissistic eye, the malicious glare, and the enigmatic gaze of the other:
- The eye’s “supercilious self-empowerment”
- The way of the eye
- always on the side of the Subject and its narcissistic fantasy
Ego-Evil and “The Tell-Tale Heart”
Wing-chi Ki, Magdalen. “Ego-Evil And “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Renascence 61.1 (2008): 25-38. Academic Search Elite. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.
via Academic Article 1.
Yes, that looks like a good source. Can you quote an important passage and share what you learned from it?