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Comparing The Black Cat And The Fall Of The House Of Usher

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Edgar Allan Poe, the author of many famous short stories, is known for leaving readers horrified yet amused by his works. Many of Poe’s stories make readers question the real darkness behind them. Both “The Black Cat” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” have secret meanings behind them, showing the true darkness that lies deep within human nature. Both stories also reveal how one's own mind can drive them insane. Each story reveals the psychological horror that is hidden within: darkness and death. “The Black Cat” by Poe reveals the darkness and inner destruction truly hidden within the narrator. To begin, it is evident that over time, the narrator's alcoholism takes a turn on his inner being. The narrator has a black cat named Pluto. He loved this pet with …show more content…

The narrator loved Pluto so dearly once he was gone; no other cat compared to him, and he now faces deep guilt from his evil mistake. The narrator’s disposition began to change once more: “Uplifting an axe, and forgetting, in my wrath, the childish dread which had hitherto stayed in my hand, I aimed a blow at the animal...but this blow was arrested by the hand of my wife...I withdrew my arm from her grasp and buried the axe in her brain” (Poe 699). Filled with rage from something as gentle as a cat, the narrator ended up murdering his wife without intending to. Due to the narrator's lack of self-control, immense guilt, and inner darkness, his mistakes caught up to him; he got caught by the police. This story shows how one's own mistakes can lead them to do something they never intended to do. In the end, it is evident that the darkness within oneself causes much sorrow and, ultimately, insanity. “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Poe reveals both physical and mental darkness and destruction. To begin, upon his arrival at the House of Usher, the narrator felt “a sense of insufferable gloom [that] pervaded [his] spirit”

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