Edgar Allan Poe

7 Pages 1637 Words

Edgar Allen Poe has been known for his themes of revenge and perversity. Two short stories that illustrate these themes are “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Black Cat”. Many critics have argued that these stories were not about revenge, but more about perversity and the cruelty of the human mind. Believe it or not, every human being is capable of murder, many do it out of revenge but there are still those who do it for no apparent reason. Poe portrays in each of the characters, the darker side of the human soul.
In the short story “The Black Cat” the narrator of the story undergoes a significant change in his character. At first both husband and wife adores their cat very much. He soon became addicted to drinking making him more and more crazy by the day, which led to the dislike of his cat. Because of this, he decides to cut one of its eyes with a penknife. Later on as his drinking led him to reach insanity to its full extent, the narrator hangs the cat and explains his reason for hanging it by saying “I knew that it loved me, and because I felt it had given me no reason of offense... and I knew that in so doing I was committing a sin-a deadly sin.” (245). By saying that, the narrator shows no reason for committing the murder. After the
murder of the cat has been committed, the character shows no remorse towards his actions. He acts as if no wrong has been done.
As the story progresses the narrator describes how his drinking habits cause him to neglect his beloved cat and wife. After his house burns down and he loses all he owns, he finds a new cat on the street, witched resembled the first. This cat also had a patch over one eye. He decided to bring the cat home to his wife. One day while working with his wife in the cellar he nearly trips down the stairs by the cat. He picks up an axe and tries to kill it but his wife gets hit with the axe instead. He then buries her inside the wall so the police woul...