Edgar Allen Poe is said to be the father of horror. His psychological thrillers have influenced writers worldwide for many years. He is probably most famous for his short stories that delve into obsession, madness, and the destruction of the human mind. In 1843 he published, "The Black Cat- and "The Tell Tale Heart."" These stories are intensely similar in many ways. Both are about domestic violence taken to a level few but Poe can obtain. The portrayal of the narrator as the murderer gives the stories a frightening impact. Thus, each story is a confession of insane fixation, grandiosity, and murder.
In "The Black Cat- the narrator begins his story of demise, by describing a relationship with a cat that he claims to love. He contends "Pluto, this was the cat's name was my favorite pet and playmate. I alone fed him, and he attended me wherever I went about the house.""(199). The narrator begins to tell of a change in himself, faulting " the Fiend Intemperance - (199). As his drinking becomes more progressive, the narrator describes an increase in physical abuse of the cat and the wife. He eventually kills the cat and his beloved wife. Poe uses alcoholism to rationalize a break down in human decency in this story. In comparison, the narrator in the "The Tell Tale Heart- claims, "I love the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult.""(88). Nevertheless, he becomes so fixated on the old man's eye that he commits premeditated murder. He gives no logical reason for the murder. Poe creates a theme of paranoia and madness beginning with the opening line, again giving a type of rationalization for the perverse actions of the narrator.
Another noteworthy similarity is in the actions of the narrator in both stories, as they go about the task of disposing of the body. The very fact that they have killed these two people and are hiding the remains in the house they live is hard to believe.
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