The narrator lives in the old man's house. Every day he takes care of him. He loves the old man. However, he is mad because of the old man's pale blue eye. He begins to develop a plot to murder the old man, brought about by his insanity.
Exposition
Climax
The narrator is at war with his own sanity. He convinces himself that he isn't insane. However, the eye itself is a symbol of his lack of sanity, described as pale blue, with a film over it. While he does not hate the old man he dislikes the old man's one blue eye, which he describes as a vulture eye. The eye causes him to set out his insane plan to rid himself of the man's eye.
Conflict
Falling Action
.
For seven nights, the narrator continues to take care of the man, but every night he creeps up to the old man's room and then opens the door. Then, he slowly undoes the lantern's latch so that only a sliver of light shines upon the old man's eye. However, on the eighth night, he does the same, but now he opens the door little by little with a silent giggle, the old man is awoken.
Rising Action
Resolution
The narrator is fearful that the neighbor will hear him. So, he decides to kill the old man by dragging the old man and pulling the heavy bed over his body suffocating him to death. The narrator then proceeds to dismember the old man's dead body and hides it under some planks.
After the narrator hides the corpse under the planks and cleans all the blood present in the room, the police officers come to his house. The narrator lets them in. He believes that his calmed composure will convince them. So he invites the officers to stay and rest, in the old man's room where he hid the corpse.
While they are chatting, the narrator hears a low and dull, familiar ringing. The narrator starts to become paranoid, believing the police officers know everything. He cannot stand the sound and the officers' pleasant smiles anymore. Finally, he confesses himself to his crime and shows where he hid the corpse.