A Comparative Analysis of Narrative Perspective and Psychological Symbolism in Depicting Guilt in Crime and Punishment and The Tell-Tale Heart

This essay investigates how Dostoevsky and Poe utilize narrative perspective and psychological symbolism to portray the impact of guilt on the human psyche.

Employing a comparative literary analysis, the study examines narrative structures—specifically unreliable first-person narration versus third-person free indirect discourse—alongside symbolic elements like dream imagery and sensory hallucinations.

The argument posits that while Poe’s techniques depict guilt as a monomaniacal descent into psychological disintegration, Dostoevsky’s approach presents it as an existential crisis facilitating moral reintegration.

This exemplar is characterized by its sophisticated comparative framework and nuanced evaluation of how literary devices externalize the internal conscience.