Edgar Allan Poe Flaws

Within every one of us, we have small imperfections that are capable of killing people. While many try to improve their flaws, others allow them to dominate their lives. Edgar Allan Poe is a fine example of these types of people. His imperfection- obsession towards alcohol- influenced his stories. Proven through his work, Poe examined how feebleness stems from a person’s tiniest flaw. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” Prince Prospero’s arrogance led him to believe he can overcome Death. In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the main character’s delirium causes him to experience madness, which results in a heinous act of murder. The narrator’s alcoholic obsession, in “The Black Cat,” becomes corruption, again leading to destruction. Thus, Edgar Allan Poe

His cluelessness made him believe he was able overcome the termination of the disease spreading around the country, as long as he was affluent. The fact is Death met everyone—no exceptions. Rather than Prince Prospero allowing his guests and his protectors to apprehend this dark figure, he wanted to murder Death himself. His "maddened rage and the shame of his own momentary cowardice (Poe, 379)" took over his mind, therefore, causing him to pursue the Death figure. By doing this, he attempted show his peers that he can handle the situation in regards to the dark figure, which is not true. Death is inevitable. Due to Prince Prospero’s arrogant belief he can escape Death, it caused him to die. He overestimated his true abilities because of his egoism. If a person’s pride dominates their life, such as Prince Prospero in this story, this is a weakness; therefore, it is weakness that dominates egotism. The flawed human nature of arrogance can cause a person to become oblivious with the

He starts off as a compassionate and sympathetic person who cared for his wife and his animals. Though, as he experienced the “instrumentality of the Fiend Intemperance (Poe 2),” the narrator grew “more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others (Poe 2)." It appears the more he became obsessed with liquor, the more “the disease grew upon me [the main character], -- for what disease is like Alcohol (Poe 2)!” In this case, the narrator’s frailty is being an alcoholic. An “overconsumption of alcohol causes the death of brain cells, which can lead to brain disorders as well as a lowered level of mental or physical function (DrugAbuse 4). People cannot control their behavior (Kids’ Health Topics 1).” As the main character starts becoming an alcoholic, he begins to abuse his wife and his animals, which is an iniquitous action. His “original soul… [begins taking] flight from its body; and a more than fiendish malevolence, gin-nurtures, thrilled every fibre of my body (Poe 2).” The narrator does not have control over himself because the alcohol is dominating him, his decisions, and his actions. Moreover, “alcohol dependence, or alcoholism, occurs when the body cannot function without alcohol… The brain becomes accustomed to the way that alcohol affects these brain chemicals. It can no longer send proper signals to the rest of the body without the presence of alcohol