Comparing The Black Cat And The Tell-Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe
611 Words3 Pages
Edgar Allan Poe once said, “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before” (n.p.). What is this mysterious darkness he describes? Could this queer dreaming be a description of Poe’s own intellect? Does his past and morals reflect onto his writings? Edgar Allan Poe is a well known poet, short-story writer, and literary critic. Poe was born January 19, 1809 in Boston; however, he was orphaned at age three after his parents’ death. Poe was taken in as a foster child by a Virginia tobacco exporter, John Allan. Following high school, he attended the University of Virginia and later West Point as a student. Because of disobedience of orders though, he was dismissed from West Point. Poe is described to have “achieved…show more content… Many of his works possess haunting quality, feature bizarre, yet beautiful settings” (Yanak and Cornelison n.p.). Throughout this paper, I will condense and analyze two pieces’ of Poe’s stories. First “The Black Cat” and following “The Tell-Tale Heart”. The conscience awareness of Poe’s characters is often questioned. This is seen in the narrators of “The Black Cat” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”. Although both pieces are unusual in their own ways, each one involves narrators with fatal ethics. Poe’s short story, “The Black Cat”, intwines horror, violence, and guilt throughout. The main character is mentioned as the narrator, but is unnamed. Other characters that are mentioned, but not as important, are the black cat and the narrator’s wife. The story involves household events, but begins with the narrator at his execution for the brutal murder of his wife. This opens up the narrator’s flashback. Beginning his flashback, the narrator is describes as a family man. Married this his wife, they’re both animal lovers. “They had ‘birds, gold-fish, a fine dog, rabbits, a small monkey, and a cat’” (Poe n.p.). However, their cat is the animal on