Edgar Allen Poe

Poe's writing does more than entertain the reader. It can be an insight into the dark and somber world of Edgar Allen Poe. One does not understand the meaning of Poe if it is read at the superficial level. He must read into Poe, and understand the hardships of his life and how he maintained them that way. He knew that death was an inevitable part of life, it is the price of life, but he tried to fight it as if it was an unnatural part of life. This theme of hardships and death is carried throughout Poe’s writings. Some of the most striking similarities can be found between “The Black Cat” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”, two short stories that divulge the inner workings of a perverse mind.

First, The plot of these stories is similar in many ways. "The Black Cat" is Poe's second psychological study of domestic violence and guilt (the first being "The Tell-Tale Heart"); however, this story does not deal with premeditated murder. The reader is told that the narrator appe...