Poe And Perverseness

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Poe and Perverseness
An extremely common state of mind known as perverseness is, quite possibly, the strongest driving force in Edgar Allan Poe’s, The Black Cat. In every one of us, although not so strong, there is a sense of stubbornness or perverseness. However, our stubbornness, such as, we must eat at a certain restaurant or wear a certain color of shirt is of a totally different type. The perverseness in the narrator of this story is a type that could put someone in prison for the rest of his or her life.
When a person has gone through as many trials and hard times in a single lifetime, the possibility of mental issues is much more prevalent. Many of the occurrences in Poe’s stories cannot be understood without knowledge of his real-life background.
The life of Edgar Poe began in 1809. Throughout his young life he was a model student and athlete. He excelled in school with little or no effort and was a record holder in the long jump. After losing his mother and step-mother to tuberculosis he began attending the, newly found, University of Virginia. However, his troubles did not end there. Soon after arriving, he created a severe debt for himself through gambling and was on the verge of poverty. Being forced to leave the University, he moved in with his aunt Maria Clemm. Not knowing it, he would here find the love of his life; Virginia Clemm. Virginia Clemm, however, was his cousin. Though that was socially acceptable at the time. After ten years of marriage he would finally lose her to tuberculosis. This tragedy then sent him into a spiraling state of depression (Poe, The Mystery…).
One occurrence at the end of the story somehow sticks out. Poe states, “I rapped heavily, with a cane which I held in my hand, upon that very portion of the brick-work behind which stood the corpse of the wife of my bosom (Poe, The Black Cat).” This statement can be translated in one of two ways: as a mark of arroganc...