Poe A Reocurring Theme

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A Reoccurring Theme A reoccurring theme in Edgar Allen Poe’s stories is the darkness and evil that humans are capable of. In “The Black Cat” and “The Cask of Amontillado” the theme is portrayed by the narrator of the story. In both stories, the narrators are driven to commit murder; however, their motives for doing so are different. Edgar Allen Poe uses both characters to convey the true nature of man and their susceptibility to commit violence. Though the stories are different in name and plot, they definitely have similarities and differences, yet they portray the same theme. One of the main similarities between the two stories is the anger that both narrators possess. What is interesting about the narrators of the stories is that they seem to have lost control and do not think twice before killing. The anger inside of them seems to have slowly bubbled up until the only thing they cared about was taking out their anger on something or someone. In “The Black Cat” the narrator takes his anger out on his pets, including his favorite cat Pluto, and ultimately his wife. For example, the narrator carves out Pluto’s eye with a penknife simply because he believed he was avoiding him. His irrational and uncontrollable anger was also illustrated when he attempted to kill his second cat for almost tripping him. And because his wife prevented him from killing this cat, in a fit of rage he strikes her on the head with an axe and kills her. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” the narrator’s anger is fueled by the “thousand injuries” and insults inflicted on him by his supposed friend Fortunato. His anger causes him not to just kill Fortunato, but to lock him in a niche in the catacombs of his home, which is a much slower death. The actions of the narrators make it evident that they seemed to lack self-control and let their anger consume them to the point of murder. Another
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