Can you help us with this debate about The Telltale Heart?

Question

Ok so my friend here says that the old man was killed when the narrator jumped in the room and scared him. His support: "The old man's hour had come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. He shrieked once --once only."

and I say that he was killed because the narrator suffocated the old man by pulling the bed on top of him, and smothering him. My support: "In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done. But, for many minutes, the heart beat on with a muffled sound. "

OK so who won? Me or.... him....

Answer 1

You did.

It says so right in the text. The narrator dragged him to the floor and smothered him.

We had this very same debate in an English Lit class my freshman year of college. The general consensus was that the narrator was so quick to drag the old man down that he only had time to scream once before he found himself on the floor, being smothered. It's hard to yell out for help again once you find yourself struggling for air.

Answer 2

you won this debate.  the old man was smothered to death.

Answer 3

You are right.  The narrator killed him by smothering him with the bed.  He was not scared to death.  It took awhile for the old man to die.  So you are right.