Obsession In The Tell-Tale Heart And The Possibility Of Evil

“Insanity: n. mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior” (Hill). This definition describes the narrator, a sweet yet deadly man, of “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe seamlessly. (Appositive) A few prominent characteristics demonstrate the narrator’s insanity, and those include his motives, his actions, and his thoughts. The narrator in this story has a dilemma that establishes his senselessness. He knows that he wants to kill his roommate, but he doesn’t have a real motive: “Object there was none.

By Fortunato not answering the calls, Montresor grew sick to his stomach because he knew he would never get the chance again. Likewise, both characters had a change of personality. In contrast, Montresor changed from being cunning and enduring to careless and impatient; while in Gilman’s story, the narrator was passive and submissive then towards the end became impulsive and abrasive. This is because Montresor planned the perfect time to seek revenge on Fortunato, the perfect time, the perfect place, and the perfect distraction. This shows his cunning personality.

Macbeth's lust for power becomes blatantly obvious based upon his fears that "to be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus", prompting him to kill Banquo and make an attempt at his son, Fleance. To relieve himself of his insecurities, he manipulates two murderers to believe than Banquo is their "enemy" and the source of all of their problems, displaying his twisted nature. He does not, before the act is already committed, share news of the "deed of dreadful note" with his "dearest chuck", Lady Macbeth, proving he has made his face a "vizard to [his] heart" not only for the public, but also to his once-cohort. Macbeth's peers' opinion sinks so low that he is often merely referred to as a "tyrant" rather than by his name. He is not only a traitorous and cruel king, but the extent to which he is "unfit to govern" makes him "unfit to live" - deserving of death for how he has let down Scotland.

Death comes in many forms; you cannot keep it out or stop it because there will always be a possibility of it. The old man’s massive amount of fear towards the evil outside caused him to forget about the evil inside. In “The Masque of Red Death” Edgar Allan Poe uses a significant amount of irony to prove his continuous

Although it may be argued that Frankenstein is correct because his creation did in fact kill William, his approach and thought process is still illogical and prolific of a narcissist. The unfit parent’s narcissistic personality disorder clouds his judgement and leaves him unable to think

… Am I to be thought the only criminal when all human kind sinned against me?” (Ch.8) and without the acceptance he yearned for, he became bitter and resentful, acting out ruthlessly. The monster was completely misunderstood and at no stage a welcome guest. In spite of his benevolent and kind spirit, he was beaten up and even shot at. No one was willing to attempt to understand him except for Agathe who was blind, but even that was short lived as Felix was quick to attack the creature. Although labelled as a horrifying monster, nothing but his exterior fit this description, until he was discriminated by society.

Macbeth’s Moral Deterioration Throughout the years where ruling and power took place everyone has always wanted to feel powerful and wouldn't stop at any lengths to have it even if it means hurting others along the way and choosing the wrong path . For others not so much, but some will choose anything to have power for instance in the tragedy of Macbeth. This is a story of an unsuccessful ruler who became king by murdering and manipulation. He chose to kill and lie in order to have power. His immoral decisions eventually lead him into extreme feelings of guilt and remorse later on in the tragedy.

Therefore, when we a take a closer look at the Monster, we can easily recognize that he becomes more dangerous after he is abandoned by everyone and is alienated by society. I believe most of us are proud of our succeed in doing what people have not done before even though the results are not good as we expected. However, as the inventor of the Creature, Victor already does an impossible thing. Instead of being satisfied with his creature, he is disappointed because of its ugly appearance. Obviously, Victor’s attitude indirectly affects to the Creature personalities.

The narrator in “The Tell Tale Heart” quickly reveals his insanity towards “vulture eye,” as he raves, “... for it was not the old man that vexed me, but his evil eye…”(523.) In this story, the eye represents judgment, therefore the killer is not paranoid about the eye specifically, but rather the opinion it gives the old man. This fear of judgment grows into an obsession and overwhelms the narrator, consuming any sanity he possessed, and leaving him guilty and illing to confess his crime. This same paranoia and fixation is demonstrated by Prince Prospero in “The Masque of Red Death.” The Prince however is paranoid by the inescapable Red Death, so much so, that he isolates himself: “A strong and lofty wall girdled it[the castle] in. The wall had gates of iron.

The creature was trying to help this girl, but he was punished because of his looks (101). This causes his fury to build into evil and bitterness: “Inflamed by pain, I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind,” (101). The creature was in pain from being shot, and he vowed to get revenge against all humans (101). Without friends, the creature has felt no love or kindness from anyone, except from blind De Lacey (95-96). This need for friends has developed into him being evil; where as if he had friends, then he probably would not want to cause pain and misery upon everyone.