Driven by passion or strong emotions rather than logic or reason

• Obsession with the eye drives the reader to kill: “His eye was like the eye of a vulture, the eye of one of those
  terrible birds that watch and wait while an animal dies, and then fall
  upon the dead body and pull it to pieces to eat it.” – He feels as though the eye is watching him, waiting for him to die (vulture)
• Proving he was sane: “why do you say I am mad? Can you not see I have full control of my mind? Is it not clear that I am not mad?” –
• his guilt at the end when he can hear the heart – Drives him to confess

Contrasting Qualities

• Thoughtless and mindful – Kills the man for no reason but covers it up very carefully
• Caring and barbaric – Says he loves the old man but then kills and cuts him up

Foreshadowed by something negative 

• “I heard sound heaven and sounds from hell” – Negative connotation
• “There was no reason for what I did” – If his actions were conducted without reason, were unreasonable (negative connotation)

Generally secretive/has an air of mystery 

• Gender remains hidden – Personal pronoun is I
• We know nothing of the protagonist background. We have no idea how he became ill/insane

Has a “need to know”

• Needs to know why we think he has lost control of his mind – constantly questioning us – he needs us to pressure him
• Needs to know/ understand the man and the eye – Watches over him for 7 nights