Servant

*"Villains! Dissemble no more! I admit the deed! Tear up the planks! Here, Here! It is the beating of his hideous heart!"*
―The Servant[src]
An **unidentified man** is the servant of the invalid master of a stately manor house.

## Biography

### Servitude

The servant begins each day of his employment by winding his pocket watch and dressing in his uniform. The master calls for his assistance by ringing a bell, at which point he goes to aid him. As the master is old and decrepit, he cannot get around or do anything by himself, hence the servant must carry him and help him with even the simplest tasks. The servant is disturbed by the master's piercing left eye and each night while the master sleeps, he sneaks up to his bedroom and shines the light from his lantern over it. He repeats the process over the next week, eventually growing so frustrated the he smashes his pocket watch.

### Murder

*"Who's there?"*
―The Old Man[src]

Upon the eighth night, he sneaks up to the master's bedroom once again. This time, the master wakes and asks to know who is there. The servant shines his lantern's light upon the master's left eye and as he states into it, he is driven into a frenzy. Giving into his rage, he throws the master upon the floor and smothers him with his own bedsheets. Once the master is dead, he carries the corpse down into the basement and dismembers it with two knives. He then buries it under the floorboards and once he has finished, he hears a knock on the front door.

### Confession

*"Police. A report has been lodged of a screaming coming from this house. May we come in?"
"Yes, Constable. Of course, sir."*
―The Detective Inspector and the **Servant**[src]

The servant answers the door and finds the Detective Inspector accompanied by two subordinates. They inform him of a report of a scream coming from the house and ask to come in. He grants them entry and they asks to speak with the master. He tells them that the master is away in the country. He offers to take their hats and coats, but they decline. He leads them upstairs and offers them brandy.

As they drink, he entertains them with jokes and stories. He tells one of the officers of a recipe for a concoction he can use to shine his boots, but becomes distracted by the repeated ringing of a bell. He hears the rhythm of a heartbeat coming from the floor beneath him and the three policemen rise from their seats with sinister smiles on their faces. As the beating grows louder and they advance upon him, he grows consumed with guilt. He explodes with emotion and admits to the murder, declaring that he can hear the beating of the master's hideous heart below the floorboards.

## Personality

*"Well, no master is hero to his valet, sayeth the proverb!"*
―The Servant[src]
The Servant is a good host with a sense of humor, supplying the policemen with brandy and entertaining them with stories and jokes. However, he is driven mad by serving his invalid master and later murders him. He is soon overcome with guilt and makes an explosive confession.

## Trivia

* In Edgar Allan Poe's original short story, very few details are given about the murderer, who serves as the story's narrator. No indication is given of their name, gender, relationship to the old man or motivation for the murder (aside from a hatred of his mysterious vulture-like eye). They only insist that they had no hatred or resentment towards the old man, whom they state never wronged them, and deny having killed him for greed.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Eggers, Robert, *The Tell-Tale Heart*, USA, July 29, 2009