dissimulation I went to work! (Poe 125).
The narrator believes he cannot be made because he was able to plan and carry out his plan.
At the same time, there are certain aspects of the narrator's opening statement that might make the reader believe him to be insane. He says that once the idea of killing the old man entered his head, it haunted him day and night. This in itself might merely indicate single-mindedness, but the narrator himself shows that his obsession is irrational:
Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! (Poe 125).
Vastel offers a way of judging the behavior of individuals in order to determin
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