In the first short story we read, The Black Cat, guilt is what causes the narrator to be caught for the crime he did. The narrator in this story hated the black cat that him and his wife had as a pet. He was an alcoholic, and one day when the cat vexed him, Poe, in the story, ripped the cat’s eye out. After ripping the cat’s eye out, Poe felt bad and decided to hang the cat. Poe hung the cat, so he would no longer feel guilty for the crime that he committed against the cat.
‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ and ‘The Black Cat’ by Edgar Allan Poe, emphasis readers an example of two narrators committing a crime. ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ tell us about an undefined narrator who goes to prison cell after murdering the old man with whom he lived. Indeed, he didn’t have any intention of killing the old men he loved. However, he was startle by the old man “vulture eye-a pale blue eye, with a film over it” (p.715), lines 11-13. This made him nervous and repulsing, for him to execute a murder.
In “The Black Cat”, Poe wrote about a man who gets two new cats, and begins to loathe them. When he decides to kill both cats, he kills one successfully, but his house burns down afterward. When he attempts to kill the second cat, he kills his wife instead. Edgar Allan Poe uses writing techniques such as past tense beginning, main character insanity, and murder to create creepy and engaging stories. The first trait used by Poe is past tense beginning.
It is the most significant event in the life of the character, when it comes to the two short stories in question. Murder seals their fate and puts them on the other side beyond the line of no return. For the main character in "The Black Cat" it is not even the murder of the wife but the murder of Pluto for no good reason. The first step to the point of no return is made when the narrator cuts out one of Pluto's eyes in rage even though the animal was the last one to avoid his wrath for the longest time. After this occasion, the character becomes engulfed in the feeling of irrationality.
I heard many things in hell.” (1). Perhaps, if he could things from hell, he could have heard bad things about the old man. He proceeded to tell the reader, “He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees --very gradually --I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever” (Poe 2) Since his reasoning is completely illogical, the reader can infer that he is mentally unstable. The narrator’s motive and style of execution for the murder is rather strange.
Sleep is one of the purest forms of altered consciousness however, traumatic experiences can impede one’s unconscious thoughts. Macbeth returns after killing Duncan and the guards, grief stricken and afraid. He tells his wife that sleep itself has been murdered and that nobody is immune his treachery (5.1.44). Macbeth’s crime is intensified by the act of murder being done at night and to sleeping rather than awake guards. The moment of guilt that Macbeth felt for his actions represents the hidden innocence behind the crimes.
He eventually kills his cat, in a fit of rage, and then believes that the cat comes back to haunt him; He encounters a similar cat that bears a strange resemblance to Pluto. Coincidentally, this cat is also missing an eye, which can represent the recurrence of the eye within Poe’s works. Poe writes, “What added, no doubt, to my hatred of the beast was the discovery, on the morning after I brought it home, that, like Pluto, it also had been deprived of one of its eyes” (Poe, para 19). The narrator is taken aback by the cat's remaining eye, as well, claiming that it withholds an inner fire, comparable to that of the raven. The eyes of both creatures
The short story never explains the wrong doing that Fortunado inflicted on Montresor, it only reveals Montresor’s need to kill Fortunado in order to perform the perfect act of vengeance. After he seals the tomb, however, he calls out “Fortunado!” twice almost as if he is waiting for a response. Hearing no answer, he speaks of his heart growing sick (Poe). It lets the reader know that he feels some sort of remorse, he is guilt ridden. In conclusion, it is Poe’s use of setting, dialogue and characterization to tell the horrific story of the perfect murder that makes “The Cask of Amontillado,” so intriguing.
According to the series of events, Montresor clearly had a plan for carrying out the murder of his acquaintance. He first convinced Fortunato to follow him into the catacombs, brought wine with him to cloud his victim’s judgement, and then brought a trowel with him to bury Fortunato alive. The “sign” was a clear give away that Montresor was not acting impulsively. How might Poe’s personal life have contributed to his fascination with the dark side of human nature in his writing? With many of his works revealing an interest with the dark side of human nature, Poe’s personal life may have contributed to the morbid, creepy style of writing he commonly uses.
Another example is the incident at the bar. Jeanette’s mother even says, “He knows that your father is a cross we must bear.” (Walls 105)Rex essentially prostitutes Jeanette to win a game of snooker. He uses her as a distraction and swindles his opponent. He allows her to go upstairs and be influenced by the sexual whims of the man. The final example, is the near murder near the end of the story.