Tell Tale Heart vs. the Black Cat Essay - 1096 Words

Edgar Allan Poe is considered to be one of the greatest American writers of all time. His writing is dark and sinister. He wrote of death, murder, psychosis, and obsession. One could only imagine what would bring a person to write such morbid stories. Perhaps, it may be attributed to Poe’s childhood, a past that was sad and far from average. Both of his parents died when he was only three years of age (Shelley). The death of his parents caused a separation from his siblings and he moved to live with his relatives (Shelley). In later years, Poe endured poverty and the loss of his wife-to-be to another man (Clark). Possibly, without those troubling experiences, Poe couldn’t have imagined such eerie and enthralling tales. Some of his most†¦show more content†¦The animal could â€Å"see† the darkness within the man’s soul and it made him uneasy. The only way he could feel secure was if he removed Pluto’s eye and then asphyxiate him. In â₠¬Å"The Tell-Tale Heart,† the main character was deeply disturbed not by a cat’s eye but, by a man’s eye. He described that the eye had the same look as that of a vulture’s (Poe). It was â€Å"a pale blue, with film over it† (Poe 702). Every night at mid-night, the obsessive man would sneak into the other man’s room and watch to see if his â€Å"vulture† eye was open; but, the man was always soundly asleep. On one particular evening, the man’s eye was wide open and the sight of his eye made him furious (Poe). He decided to drag the man to the floor and smother him with his own bed until he was dead. In both stories the men became enraged by a single eye. In â€Å"The Black Cat,† the man disfigured the feline, for he could not bear the feeling of transparency. In â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart,† the man’s eye made him so uncomfortable, that he felt he had to destroy it permanently. They both felt that killing was t he only course of action open to them. In â€Å"The Black Cat,† the man was married to a patient and caring woman. They acquired another cat that, according to the man, looked remarkably like Pluto (709). One day, the cat almost tripped the man while they were walking down a flight of stairs. This â€Å"exasperated† the man â€Å"to madness† (Poe 709). He lifted an axe and â€Å"aimed a blow at the animal,† (Poe 709).Show MoreRelated A Comparison of House of Usher, Bierces Beyond the Wall, The Black Cat, John Mortonsons Funeral1742 Words   |  7 PagesParallels in Poes House of Usher and Bierces Beyond the Wall, Poe’s The Black Cat and Bierces John Mortonsons Funeral, and in M.S. Found in a Bottle by Poe and Three and One are One by Bierce.      Ã‚  Ã‚   When one decides to become an author, one can not help being influenced by his predecessors, causing some of ones work to reflect and echo the predecessors. Such is the case between Ambrose Bierce and his predecessor, Edgar Allen Poe. 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