How Does Edgar Allan Poe Fall Into Insanity

Death, sadness, and craziness are attributes that are not looked too highly upon in society. As one starts to delve into Edgar Allan Poe’s life, the sadness he dealt with is found within the pages of his texts; something sad and dark always hangs in the background, making it difficult to read some of his works. In terms of what people deal with on a daily basis, the mental health issue in the United States has come to the forefront again because we are becoming more attuned to the problems people face in a “civilized” society. In the old days, we would lock those with major mental issues up in state mental health institutions; however, as we have moved forward and tried to save money as a government, the state mental health hospitals have been shut down, and we, as a nation, must find a new way to

Poe was famous mostly from his grotesque elements and making disturbing, but vivid, images that can make anyone shiver. One of Poes works that take those elements and put them into play, is the story “The Black Cat.” The narrator heavily endures alcohol while he wanders around his cat and gradually gets violent.

Another example of insanity being the common theme in Edgar Allen Poe’s short stories can be established in “The Cask of Amontillado.” Montresor, the narrator, becomes enraged when he revisits a time long ago when his worst enemy Fortunato insulted his family. While recalling the occasion years later, Montresor confessions to a crime involving Fortunato. Considering the humiliation and disrespect Montresor felt was inflicted on his family, he wanted revenge stating, “I must not only punish, but punish with impunity” (Poe 250). He felt that retribution was the only way Fortunato could feel the same way as he did when the insult to his family was made. As Montresor and Fortunato walk down into the vaults to look over some newly bought wine,

As a short-story writer, Poe was a fascinating man of imagination. In theme, Poe places the human mind under investigation and probes insanity beneath the surface of normal existence. He was the first author in American literature to make the neurotic, the heroic figure, the protagonist, in his stories. Poe's most enduring tales are those of horror, the horror coming, from the working of an irrational or criminal mind, driven to evil or insanity by a perverse irrational force which, to Poe, is an elementary impulse in man.

The Black Cat, a short horror story by Edgar Allen Poe, told in a first-person perspective, follows the narrator through his mental decline triggered by alcoholism. It narrates about how his degraded rational state causes him to torture animals and kill his wife. Insanity, as demonstrated by the narrator of The Black Cat, does not always manifest itself as permanent characteristics that consistently show. Sometimes it shows as periods of irrationality and irritability, an inability to distinguish right from wrong, or as mad fits of uncontrollable rage. Alcohol can prompt these outbursts of rage. Because of the events and contemplations of the narrator, we as readers can conclude that he is definitely not sane during these outbursts. The narrator is insane because he can’t have power over his own actions and is therefore not guilty of killing his wife.

“But why will you say that I am mad?” (Poe,1). The narrator is questioning why anyone would think he is mad. Any sane mind would ask why they would be thinking something so profound. While that is an excellent point, it neglects to account for a reason for the narrator to create such a diligent plan to murder someone for their eye. “I had no desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this…. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold….” (Poe 1). The narrator already had no aspiration to kill the man, but the man’s eye was causing him such agitation that he had a desire to kill the man which is an insane action. The introduction states, “TRUE! --nervous-- very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?” (Poe, 1). This allows readers to believe he is insane because it is inhuman like for someone to verify their own sanity. The narrator tries very hard to convince the readers of his mental stability, for if sane he wouldn’t need to confirm. “You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded -with what caution…” (Poe 1) The narrator proudly describes how he proceeded with his inhuman like action (killing the old man), which comes across to the audience as being insane. Poe’s clever constructed story unfolds the mind of a psychotic

The narrator seems to be crazy, but is still in denial of it. That led to him to confess because since he is crazy he must hear things as well just like when he heard the man's heart. When he repeated over and over that he wasn't crazy it started to sound like it was a rhetorical statement and when he asked “how [could he be] mad”(Poe pg1) it was like he was wanting to reassure himself that he wasn't crazy. The narrator is also cocky because after he kill the old man and the police came he told them to “search the [old man's room very thoroughly]”( pg4) he acted like he had no fear of what he had done and was getting a little proud of how good of a job he did. Even though in the beginning he was cocky about the police coming and searching the

Poe utilizes the symbolism of “the watch” and “the old man’s eye” to illustrate how insanity encourage different individuals to control the actions he or she makes

A popular short story The Tell Tale by Edgar Allan which was first published in January 1843. The story is brought out in the first persons figure who is the author serving as the main character. It revolves about a condition the author has which makes him assured of his sanity while the surrounding happenings only disapprove his thought. He desperately tries to convince the reader that he is normal and in this attribute he portrays the symptoms of a mental disorder most probably schizophrenia. The character kills an old man in order to get rid of his big pale blue eyes. Every night he came to his and shot at his eyes with a lantern without the old man ever realizing. On one incidence the old man was awakened and

Is this man insane? The narrator of this story is slowly slipping in to madness. Argument the Poe’s narrator is mad usually call attention to the fact that even the beginning of the tale he is oppressed by a scene of insufferable gloom and “an utter depression of soul”. Such words suggest that we may from the start be dealing with a disturbed mind. However, it is not quite fair to offer these questions as evidence since they exist in the following context

Perhaps he feels the only way to escape this predator is to kill it. Then to give further evidence that he has no motive other than to get away from the cold gaze of the eye, he suggests that he has no interest in the old man’s wealth when he says that “for his gold, I had no desire.” Once again, this leads me to the conclusion that he is mad since there is no worldly motive to harm the man and there is nothing the man can do about the condition of his eye. It seems an odd juxtaposition to be willing to hurt someone that you also love. This is a theme common to many cultures. There are numerous accounts of people doing horrible things to those that mean the most to them. It could that Poe was trying to show how this sort of violence against what we hold most dear is self-harming. I am forced to wonder if this eye is so disturbing, why he would not just leave the residence. This would be a simple, safe, and logical solution. Of course, logic is not in the toolkit for our narrator as we will continue to discover.

Edgar Allan Poe, is one of the most brilliant literary writers in history. He wrote many poems and short stories throughout his rather short lifetime, most of which encompassed such themes as death, destruction, and madness. These intriguing, and often frightening tales, as well as his clever use of a multitude of literary tactics, is what set him apart from the rest, and what makes him so popular still today. Reading his work, one is sure to wonder where these ideas came from. However, a little research into past will certainly open the doors to a better understanding of his writing.

Madness is also a common element in Poe’s works. For instance, in Pit And The Pendulum, the character embraces a point of madness as the pendulum slowly swings toward him but eventually overcomes his madness to save himself from the pendulum. Madness is also found in The Tell-Tale Heart becomes the madness embraces the murderer of the novel as he obsesses and distresses over the eye of the old man whom he eventually destroys and dismembers it also infects the character when he is stricken with the guilt of his horrible act. Also, Hop-Frog shows signs of madness as well when Hop-Frog becomes infuriated with the King and his seven councilors behavior and through an extremely well delivered plan has them all torched to a public death. In The Fall of the House of Usher the character Madeline was embraced with the madness (insanity) after being locked in a coffin alive so that her fiancè would be disposed of by her brother. His work with gothic literature and his life as a depressed child, adult, and man has caused madness to be a common influence for in his literature.

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most acclaimed short story writers of all time and is considered the father of the psychological thriller. He has achieved ever-lasting fame for his work in various fields of literature, from prose to verse. However, it is his Gothic narrative, in the short story realm he is greatest known for and is regarded as one of the foremost masters of horror that the United States has ever fashioned. The crucial component to these horror stories is usually the characters’ insanity. The madness that inflicts the main characters in these stories drives them to commit the acts that they do. For instance, it is the madness of the narrator in Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart” that allows him to murder his beloved employer. Edgar Allan Poe weaved stories of intrigue, such as "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Tell-Tale Heart,” each of which have characters that share the common element of insanity that renders them incapable of controlling their dangerous impulses of murder.

The narrators in “The Tell Tale Heart” and “The Black Cat” could both be insane. The story “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe is told by a man who kills on older man because he does not like his odd eye. He buries the body of the old man in the floorboards of his house, in which the police discover due to the narrator revealing it to them. In the story “The Black Cat” the narrator harms and eventually kills his pets and more specifically a black cat. He is haunted by the cat and rages and kills his wife when she tries to stop him from killing the cat. He seals both the cat and the corpse of his wife within his fireplace. In both stories the narrators are insane.