<P> It is unclear what relationship, if any, the old man and his murderer share . The narrator denies having any feelings of hatred or resentment for the man who had, he says, never wronged him . He also denies that he killed for greed . The specific motivation for murder (aside from the narrator's dislike of the old man's eye), the relationship between narrator and old man, and other details are left unclear . </P> <P> It has been speculated that the old man is a father figure, the narrator's landlord, or that the narrator works for the old man as a servant, and that perhaps his "vulture - eye" represents some sort of veiled secret, or power . The ambiguity and lack of details about the two main characters stand in stark contrast to the specific plot details leading up to the murder . </P> <P> "The Tell - Tale Heart" is a first - person narrative of an unnamed narrator, who insists he is sane but is suffering from a disease (nervousness) which causes "over-acuteness of the senses". Due to the ambiguity surrounding the identity of the story's narrator, the narrator's gender cannot be known for certain . However, for ease of description, masculine pronouns are used in this article . </P> <P> The old man with whom he lives has a clouded, pale, blue "vulture - like" eye, which distresses the narrator so much that he plots to murder the old man, despite also insisting that he loves the old man . The narrator insists that his careful precision in committing the murder proves that he cannot possibly be insane . For seven nights, the narrator opens the door of the old man's room in order to shine a sliver of light onto the "evil eye". However, the old man's vulture - eye is always closed, making it impossible to "do the work". </P>

What disease does the narrator in the tell tale heart have