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Comparison between Edgar Allen Poe's Tell Tale Heart and the Black Cat

Introduction

Edgar Allen Poe is a master of gothic literature, gothic literature is a genre of writing that incorporates many horrific incidents, such literature is marked by elements of death, sadness, murder and other essentials that people usually do not associate with literature, Edgar uses the same gothic style of writing in both his short stories under study for this paper, the purpose behind using such writing methods is to introduce to the writer the harsh realities of life and make them look beyond the usual fairytales and stories of appeasement. Apparently there are many similarities between both stories Tell Tale heart and the black cat, both revolve around lunacy and murder and finally conviction (Millbank, 2011). The purpose behind this paper is to analyze the key similarities between both stories and understand how Poe uses those similarities in a completely different context (Sipe, 2006)

Thesis Statement

How do both short stories The Black cat and Tell tale heart show two varying concepts using similar characteristics?

Discussion

The main characters

The main character in Poe's Tell tale heart is the narrator who shows clear signs and symptoms of paranoia it is apparent from the way he thinks and appears that he is psychologically unstable. Throughout the story the narrator stalks his victim who is an old man who the narrator lived with, and ever though he claims he loves the old man he still plans on murdering him. The narrator is also very delusional in how he constantly reassures the reader that he is not insane, he tries to prove his point by expressing that a madman would hardly be able to narrate the happenings of the event like he is. In actuality he has severe mental disturbances that cause him to haunt an old man and ultimately murder him since he feels threatened by his so called evil eye (Poe, 1850)

The main character of the story Black cat also faces mental deterioration his mental condition is shown as extremely fragile and the tiniest events lead him into an outburst that can only be justified as lunacy. The narrator is experiencing mental descent and he openly acknowledges the changes that he feels and the uncontrollable pangs of anger he goes through. Most of his acts are without purpose, he claims he loves animals but in his moment of anguish he removes his cat's eye from his socket, which is clearly not a sane act. The narrator is constantly haunted by the cat and the gruesome act he performed, however in his insanity he kills his own wife. Both stories have a similarity in the main characters, both have severe mental conditions and both turn to committing murder for no purpose (Poe, 1845).

The Murder

In tell Tale heart the murder victim is an old man, whom the narrator murders because of his evil eye for seven days the narrator stalks the old man for seven nights he bothers and troubles an old man ...