The narrator addresses the reader directly, insisting they are not mad despite what others may believe.

The narrator describes the old man's eye as vulture-like — pale blue with a cloudy film — and declares it evil.

The narrator resolves to kill the old man as the only way to rid themselves of the evil eye forever.

Each midnight for seven nights, the narrator sneaks into the old man's bedroom and observes the sleeping man.

On the eighth night, the narrator's thumb slips on the lantern and produces a sharp sound in the silence.

The old man wakes and calls out into the darkness, asking who is there.

The narrator stands motionless in the pitch-black doorway for a full hour while the old man listens in terror.

The narrator opens the lantern and a beam of light falls directly onto the old man's wide-open vulture eye.

A loud, rhythmic thumping — like a heartbeat — grows progressively and unbearably louder in the narrator's ears.

The narrator leaps into the room, drags the old man to the floor, and smothers him under the heavy bed.

The thumping heartbeat falls silent, and the narrator uncovers the body to confirm the old man is dead.

The narrator dismembers the old man's body and hides the pieces beneath the bedroom floorboards.

Three policemen arrive at the door, reporting that a neighbor heard a shriek during the night.

The narrator calmly escorts the officers through the entire house, pointing out the old man's room and undisturbed belongings.

The narrator confesses to murdering the old man and demands the officers tear up the bedroom floorboards.

The narrator opens by addressing the reader and insisting on personal sanity, while immediately revealing an obsessive hatred for an old man's pale, filmy eye. After a week of nightly surveillance, the narrator murders the old man on the eighth night, suffocating him beneath the bed. The body is carefully dismembered and hidden under the floorboards, leaving no visible trace of the crime. Three policemen arrive following a neighbor's report of a shriek, and the narrator confidently escorts them through the house. The investigation seems to go smoothly until the narrator becomes overwhelmed by what sounds like a heartbeat pounding beneath the floor, finally breaking down in a full confession.

The murder of the old man and its aftermath.

The narrator claims a disease has sharpened their senses to an extraordinary and almost supernatural degree.

The narrator insists they love the old man and that he has never harmed or wronged them in any way.

The narrator draws a clear distinction between the old man as a person and the evil eye, claiming to hate only the eye.

Seven nights in a row, the narrator finds the old man's eye closed and retreats without committing the deed.

The old man sits bolt upright in bed, listening intently to the complete silence of the darkened room.

The narrator savors a sense of hidden power, knowing the old man cannot detect the threat lurking in the doorway.

The narrator imagines the old man's dread growing larger and larger as the silent standoff drags on through the dark.

The heartbeat sounds to the narrator like the ticking of a watch muffled beneath layers of cotton.

The old man shouts in terror the moment the narrator floods the room with a full beam of light.

After the murder, the narrator carefully catches all the blood in a tub, leaving the room entirely clean.

The narrator places a personal chair directly over the floorboards hiding the dismembered body and sits with the officers.

The policemen appear satisfied with their inspection and settle into pleasant, unhurried conversation with the narrator.

A painful ringing fills the narrator's ears and a headache sets in while sitting calmly with the officers.

The narrator speaks louder and more rapidly, desperately trying to drown out the growing auditory torment.

The narrator becomes certain the smiling officers already know the truth and are mockingly feigning ignorance.

The narrator attributes their acute senses to a disease and uses this as evidence of sanity, while also professing genuine love for the old man and hatred only for his eye. Each night the narrator retreats without acting because the closed eye gives no cause for action, but on the eighth night the old man sits upright in the dark, and the narrator savors the power of being unseen. The old man's terror fills the room during the long standoff, and the narrator eventually commits the murder before methodically cleaning up all evidence. When the police arrive, the narrator seats them directly above the hidden body and attempts to hold a relaxed conversation. A rising auditory torment convinces the narrator the officers are secretly mocking a confession they already know is coming.

The narrator's obsession, the night of the murder, and the unraveling during the police visit.

The narrator's opening monologue reveals this is a confession of a murder that has already been carried out.

The narrator argues that the careful, methodical planning of the crime is itself proof of a perfectly rational mind.

The narrator frames the decision to murder as a necessary escape from the paralyzing dread the old man's eye inspires.

After seven nights of hesitation and retreat, the narrator returns on the eighth night with firm and unwavering resolve.

The old man lets out a low, quiet groan in the darkness, which the narrator interprets as a sound of mortal dread.

The sight of the wide-open vulture eye fills the narrator with uncontrollable fury and a singular, consuming obsession.

The narrator holds the lantern beam fixed on the open eye, trembling with excitement as the heartbeat sensation intensifies.

The heartbeat grows so overwhelming that the narrator fears the sound will be heard by the neighbors outside.

Terrified the noise will expose the crime, the narrator throws the lantern fully open and charges at the old man.

After the murder, the narrator feels cheerful and entirely satisfied, experiencing no guilt or remorse whatsoever.

The narrator greets the arriving officers with ease and invites them inside, certain no sign of guilt can be detected.

The narrator brings chairs into the old man's bedroom and bids the officers to sit and make themselves comfortable.

The narrator rises, begins to pace frantically, and scrapes a chair across the floorboards while raving and gesticulating.

The narrator suddenly recognizes the growing noise as identical to the heartbeat heard in the moments just before the murder.

The narrator's composed facade shatters completely, and an uncontrollable outburst reveals the murder to the three officers.

The story is structured as a confession already in progress, with the narrator using methodical planning as supposed proof of sanity while revealing a mind driven entirely by irrational fear. The decision to commit murder is framed as an act of self-liberation, and after seven nights of hesitation the narrator returns on the eighth with total resolve. A groan from the old man signals mortal dread, and the sight of the open eye sends the narrator into a frenzy, culminating in an attack driven by the fear that the mounting heartbeat will alert the neighbors. After the murder the narrator shows no remorse, and during the police visit appears in complete control — until a familiar sound begins to rise and the narrator's composed facade collapses entirely into a screamed confession.

The key decisions, realizations, and psychological breaks that drive the story to its end.