The Evil Eye in the Tell-Tale HeartIn Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale Heart", there is much talk about the old man's "evil eye". Immediately we meet a man who would never harm a fly. The narrator of the story even goes so far as to say that he loved the old man. This old man is portrayed as someone who would do anything for you. However, the old man's guardian has a little problem with the old man. The eye, that damn evil eye! What could make a person angry about one eye and one eye only? Martha Womack said that violence comes from irrational fear represented through the old man's eye. “The belief in the evil eye dates back to ancient times and is still quite common today in India and countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. References to it are made in the Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist and Hindu faiths” (Poedecoder). Womack goes on to compare the "evil eye" to a Medusa-like object that is capable of harming a person simply by looking at them. This comparison supports my theory of a God-like entity in the old man's eye. Many people have tried to rationalize the meaning of just the “evil eye.” Some have tried to link the old man to a Cyclops. However, I see this eye from a Christian perspective. The eye is not "bad" in the devil's sense but, in my humble opinion, it is the eye of God. I agree with BD Tucker. The first thing I tried to do was tell the Cyclops theory, but it didn't suit me. The reason the Cyclops theory doesn't fit the story is because in the second paragraph, Poe writes, "One of his eyes was like that of a vulture" (Kennedy 34). The Greek mythical creature only had... middle of paper... ideas about what the story could represent. After studying the "evil eye" in this story, I have no doubt that the eye is that of God. Work cited Benfey, Christopher. “Poe and the Illegible: “The Black Cat” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” New Essays on Poe's Major Tales viii (1993): 27-43Canario, John W. “The Dream in “The Tell-Tale Heart.” English Language Notes 7 (1970): 194-97Great Seal. Homepage March 1, 2001. Great Seal. July 5, 2001 Kennedy, XJ, 7th ed. An introduction to fiction. New York: Longman, 1998: 33-7The Poe Decoder. Home page. April 12, 2001. The Poe Decoder. July 5, 2001 www.poedecoder.com>Robinson, E. Arthur. "Thoreau and the Deathwatch in Poe's 'The Tell-Tale Heart'." Poe-Studies 4:1 (1971): 14-6Tucker, BD “The Tell-Tale Heart and the Evil Eye.” Southern-Literary-Journal 13:2 (spring 1981): 92-8