Obsession is a "state in which someone thinks about someone or something constantly or frequently, especially in a non-normal way" (Merriam Webster's Dictionary). Obsession plays a key role in Edgar Allen Poe's short story, The Tell-Tale Heart. Poe is known as one of the sickest and most twisted writers of his time, in fact many argue that he is still in that category when compared to modern writers. The obsession leads the narrator to commit a crime that completely questions his morality. Poe uses different symbols in The Tell-Tale Heart, not only showing his fears, but his obsession with death itself. These symbols include the "evil eye" of the old man, time, the heart and the defense that he is not crazy. It is fair to assume that the old man and the narrator are neighbors in a mental institution. The “evil eye” and time in The Tell-Tale Heart are the main obsessions of the whole story. The narrator explains the eye by stating, “It had the eye of a vulture, a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Every time it fell on me, my blood ran cold…” (Poe 2). The old man's eye drove him so mad that he killed a man he claimed to have loved. The “evil eye” refers not only to the old man's eye, but to “I,” as in the narrator himself. This is directly related to the obsession with time that is often referenced throughout the story. The narrator believes that the only way to beat time is to destroy himself. May explains in her analysis “The Tell-Tale Heart”, that “…saving the self from time by destroying itself is a paradox that the narrator can only address by substituting his need to destroy himself (the Ego) for a need to gouge out the old man's eye” (12). The narrator ultimately destroys himself by killing the old… middle of paper… and considered himself an absolute genius for it” (Warpool 2). The author helps people understand that he planned this murder meticulously and is not deranged at all, but in a way a genius. This raises an important point; Poe is suggesting that the narrator is not crazy, but is this act actually just like any other premeditated murder? Indeed this is a point to consider, but at the beginning of the story the narrator states: “The illness had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled. Above all, the sense of hearing was acute. I have heard everything in heaven and on earth. I heard many things in hell” (Poe 1). The narrator explains his illness at the beginning of the story, which helps conclude that he is indeed crazy. Yes, it is clear that he planned the murder, but this helps to show that he is not as crazy as he thinks he is..