The Characters in The Tell Tale Heart

In the Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe, there are really only two main characters. These characters are the old man and the narrator. The narrator is pretty much insane. He tells the readers that he is not mad and that he is completely healthy and normal. You can tell that this is untrue because of the fact that he killed the old man for no reason and can tell the story like it was nothing. He says "Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily --how calmly I can tell you the whole story." That right there proves to you that he is crazy. This shows indirect characterization, because he tries to mislead you and tell you something that is not true. On the other hand the old man was completely different. He was a sweet, kind hearted person and even the narrator admitted this. The narrator told us "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." This is direct characterization because the narrator is telling you exactly what the person is like.