Major Stories of Edgar Allan Poe - Essay Example

Both stories are written using the same technique by Edgar Allan Poe. He has used the narrator as a tool to describe the events in both stories. This essay would further revolve around the two stories and present the differences and similarities found in both the stories.

Edgar Allan Poe has inexplicably written both works to show the madness that is prevalent in the world. He uses the technique of a narrative to describe both stories along with the justice that is served at the end of both stories (Poe, 375). Poe uses the first person experience to narrate both stories so that the readers can take an insight into the scenes of horror fiction. Poe gives a detailed explanation of the lives of the two narrators in the stories aforementioned in the beginning so that the readers can grasp the scenes of the story. Both stories follow the genre of horror and fear as the author shows psychological trauma and fear in the characters that are being played by the narrators. These themes can be seen in the quote taken from the story ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ which says ‘I cut off the head and the arms and the legs’ (Poe, 7). Similarly, in The Black Cat the narrator states “One morning, in cool blood, I slipped a noose about its neck and hung it to the limb of a tree” (Poe, 23) which clearly shows the genre of horror.

Insanity is a theme used by Poe which is seen in both the lead characters of the story. It is seen that this insanity causes both of the narrators to kill the individuals for no valid reason. Poe ends up providing justice in both stories as the narrators who commit the crime are both caught by the police at the end of the respective stories. The Tell-Tale Heart and The Black Cat depict the extent to which a human being can go and the narrative serves to explain to the reader that the narrators are not as mentally sound as they argue that they are. The mental state of both narrators can clearly be said to be inappropriate even though they argue that they are sane enough. In both the stories the narrators are the killers and they kill for reasons that are only known to them.

It can be seen that both the works have quite a lot of similarities but upon close analysis, it can also be seen that the works have a difference. In The Black Cat, the narrator kills the cat and his wife unintentionally whereas in The Tell-Tale the narrator plans out to kill the old man as he fears his eye. Poe places the factor of anger differently in both stories as it is seen that the narrator in The Black Cat takes out his anger on a living thing that can not resist. However, in The Tell-Tale, it is seen that the narrator takes out anger on a person who can resist. It is also seen that the beginning in both the stories is different in The Tell-Tale the narrator gives out the ending in the opening paragraphs whereas in The Black Cat, the narrator gives the whole account at the end of the story. The plot of the stories is shown differently to the readers by Poe but in the end both the narrators are caught for the crime that they commit.

In conclusion, it can be said that Poe has written two classical works in the genre of horror to present the insanity of individuals from a different perspective. He has used the object of fear as a tool to describe the scenes in the stories so that the readers can grasp a view of the whole situation as put by Poe himself. Both the stories have a difference in their plot and set up but the tools used by Poe are nearly the same.