For the Tell-Tale Heart, what are two pivotal artifacts?

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/poestories/section6.rhtml

In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," two pivotal artifacts that play significant roles in the story are the old man's eye and the dismembered body hidden beneath the floorboards. The eye symbolizes the narrator's obsession and the catalyst for his murderous act, while the hidden body represents his guilt and descent into madness.

To understand these pivotal artifacts in "The Tell-Tale Heart," you can analyze the text itself:

1. The old man's eye: The story starts with the narrator's obsession and aversion to the old man's pale blue eye, which is described as resembling that of a vulture. The narrator's psychological state becomes fixated on this eye, perceiving it as a symbol of evil. The eye's importance lies in its ability to drive the narrator to commit murder.

2. The dismembered body beneath the floorboards: After killing the old man, the narrator dismembers his body and hides it beneath the floorboards of the old man's room. As the story progresses, the narrator's guilt intensifies, and he becomes increasingly haunted by the sounds he perceives as the beating heart of the old man. While the heartbeat is symbolic of the narrator's guilty conscience, the hidden body represents his deteriorating mental state and loss of rationality.

By closely reading and analyzing the text, you can identify these two pivotal artifacts and understand how they contribute to the overall theme of guilt, obsession, and madness in "The Tell-Tale Heart."