The narrator in The Black Cat not only suffers from alcoholism, but a mental illness known as antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). There are many ways to define mental illness, and just as many illnesses that go along with the definitions. The many definitions include antisocial personality disorder, and how it affects people. Next, how alcohol affects ASPD diagnosed people more than those who are not diagnosed ASPD. Lastly, how mental illness needs to be treated to help all those that suffer and want to be treated.
Mental illness is defined in many ways; one of those ways is through addiction to drugs or alcohol. Many see mental illness as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or OCD; however, “an addiction can be considered a mental illness in a way that a person with the condition is often unaware of the effect it is having on other people, especially family members” (Addiction). People in the family tend to make excuses for the one that is addicted to a substance. In Edger Allen Poe’s short story, The Black Cat, a lot of the behaviors the narrator presents are attributed to his drinking. The outbursts of rage and violence, he displayed to the animals, he admits that he mistreated the rabbits, dogs, and
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The narrator tells the reader that he had many pets as a child and said “I spent most of my time, and never was so happy as when feeding and caressing them” (Poe). He does not mention friends, but mentions his wife—who had a similar love for animals. The narrator feels no remorse when it comes to killing his wife, he is smug about the whole situation when the police came to look around “I felt no embarrassment whatever” (Poe). Although antisocial personality disorder is not caused by substance abuse, it is not helped by the use of alcohol or
Edgar Allan Poe published in The Cask of Amontillado in 1846. He is known for his gothic and dark writing style. In The Cask of Amontillado, the main character Montresor seeks revenge on Fortunato. The story follows Montresor’s plan for revenge and ends with the murder of Fortunato. Montresor’s actions are bizarre and uncalled for, especially after he never explains the motive for the murder. After analyzing Montresor’s actions and examining his mental state, and the crime he committed, I have concluded that he suffered from Antisocial Personality Disorder. “A personality disorder that is characterized by antisocial behavior exhibiting pervasive disregard for and violation of the rights, feelings, and safety of others starting in childhood
Substance abuse affects the entire body, in The Black Cat it affects the narrators personality and his mood but alcohol can also have physical affects on the body. From the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, they state that alcohol can interfere with your brains communication pathways, and can also affects the way your brain works and looks in the long run. They state also along with what happens to the brain that it can disrupt mood and behavior, make it harder to think clear and move with coordinating skills. We can see how this applies to our narrator, he becomes angry and moody. He is thoughtless and doesn't care about his actions changing him from a caring, delightful human being to someone who could murder and sleep soundly through the night.
Poe lived in poverty all of his life, never seeing enough money from his writings to allow him to live comfortably, and never seeing his writing arrive at the famed status that it has today. Poe drank heavily throughout his life due to all of the downfalls he suffered. In between these drinking binges Poe had spurts of creativity, this is when he wrote his best material (E. A. Poe Society of Baltimore Inc. "Poe, Drugs and Alcohol" 1). Poe's sad and troubled life gave him the material he needed to create stories and poems that would capture his audience. Though Poe lived a hard life and was criticized by many for being evil and demonic, his stories and poems are still with us today as some of the greatest American literature ever published. Edgar Allan Poe's life experiences including the untimely death of his parents, his use of drugs and alcohol, the many other deaths in his life, and his unhealthy relationships with women influenced his tales and poems now famed for being dark and horrific in tone.
Madness is mostly represented by both writers through a thing or object. In The Black Cat, eventually the cats become the madness as the protagonists mental state deteriorates. The second cat the protagonist found is the object that is used to represent his guilt for his brutal actions towar...
...Unfortunately, Poe wrote about what he could not seem to escape, the continuous death and loss of the people around him. The loneliness and sorrow Poe experienced through out his life was the driving force behind his work. The substance abuse came as a result of the emptiness and sorrow Poe felt, resulting in the self-destruction and eventual end to his own life. In spite of his own tragedies, he remains one of the most treasured and beloved writers' in American history. His haunting poems and stories will be read by numerous generations.
For example, the character Timber experienced a tragic event which left his beloved wife, Sylvan, with brain damage, causing her to forget who he was. Her love and support was the driving force in his. Timber says “she’d come home at night and find me there and we’d walk into the house which was our home” (Wagamese, 2009, p. 205). His choice of words convey that the house was only a home when Sylvan was there. When she was taken away from him, he was emotionally homeless. With his wife needing care in an expensive special facility, Timber resorted to selling their belongings and eventually their house, making him physically homeless as well. This, in association with the loss of his wife, caused him to leave his former life. This response is similar to the “fight or flight” response animals and humans have with the presence of stress (Davidson, 2015). Timber chose to flee from his problems as apposed to fight to rebuild his life. With this behaviour, it is not surprizing that he also took up a drinking problem. Similar to the aforementioned Digger, Timber used alcohol as a means to self-medicate. He says about drinking, “it’s all [he] could do because [he] didn’t want to surface to the blackness, the emptiness of [his] life” (Wagamese, 2009, p. 208). Timber’s poor mental health and substance abuse only further contributed to his
Antisocial Personality Disorder is a mental health diagnosis of someone whom exhibits continued deceitfulness, aggressiveness and irritability, reckless disregard for the safety of others or themselves, lack of remorse, high level of impulsiveness, failure to conform to social norms as well as consistent irresponsibility. For one to be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder, the individual must exhibit at least three out of the seven signs of antisocial and irresponsible behavior after the age of fifteen (Oltmanns & Emery, 2012). They are extremely egocentric individuals, whom their main goals are derived from power, pleasure or personal gain. People suffering from antisocial personality disorder deal with continued failure to perform responsibilities in their family roles, as well as occupational roles. Violence and conflict is not unusual to them, as well as physical fights. “These people are irritable and aggressive with their spouses and children as well as with people outside of the home. They ...
Alcoholism is a mental illness that is very destructive not only to an individual that has it, but also to the people that surround him or her and the community. It is a “chronic disease, progressive, and often fatal”, according to James D. Torr, author of the book called Alcoholism (19). Alcohol, when consumed, causes the person to feel pleasure and other desired effects, because of the chemicals it contains. The continuation of consuming alcohol causes the brain and the body to develop tolerance or addiction which leads to alcohol dependence or alcoholism.
The goal of this paper is to effectively explain the adverse affects of antisocial personality disorder. This paper will increase understanding on the psychological mindset of those who commit crimes and how it relates to their personality. I have selected two sources on the subject of antisocial personality disorders that will effectively explain an individual’s actions who suffer from this disorder. Finally we will discuss possible treatments for this disorder.
Furthermore, Poe’s plot development added much of the effect of shocking insanity to “The Black Cat.” To dream up such an intricate plot of perverseness, alcoholism, murders, fire, revival, and punishment is quite amazing. This story has almost any plot element you can imagine a horror story containing. Who could have guessed, at the beginning of the story, that narrator had killed his wife? The course of events in “The Black Cat’s” plot is shockingly insane by itself! Moreover, the words in “The Black Cat” were precisely chosen to contribute to Poe’s effect of shocking insanity. As the narrator pens these he creates a splendidly morbid picture of the plot. Perfectly selected, sometimes rare, and often dark, his words create just the atmosphere that he desired in the story.
Edgar Allen Poe’s short story The Black Cat immerses the reader into the mind of a murdering alcoholic. Poe himself suffered from alcoholism and often showed erratic behavior with violent outburst. Poe is famous for his American Gothic horror tales such as the Tell-Tale Heart and the Fall of the House of Usher. “The Black Cat is Poe’s second psychological study of domestic violence and guilt. He added a new element to aid in evoking the dark side of the narrator, and that is the supernatural world.” (Womack). Poe uses many of the American Gothic characteristics such as emotional intensity, superstition, extremes in violence, the focus on a certain object and foreshadowing lead the reader through a series of events that are horrifying and grotesque. “The Black Cat is one of the most powerful of Poe’s stories, and the horror stops short of the wavering line of disgust” (Quinn).
John Wayne Gacy, Tim Bundy, and Ottis Toole are all infamous serial killers that suffered from a certain disorder. That disorder is called antisocial personality disorder. The biggest question that we have for these men is what triggered these non-empathetic men to commit such heinous crimes, was it mostly biology based or environment? Or do both factors share an equal amount of blame? When it comes to what is the exact cause of antisocial personality disorder, researchers and scientists are unable to come into an agreement. More or less, scientists agree that this personality disorder is caused by a combination of environmental and biological factors. While most scientists are able to agree what environmental conditions serve as precursors for a child to develop antisocial personality disorder characteristics in life, the problem continues to be what internal chemical imbalances are occurring to create this disorder. This ongoing question has been thrown to the public to ponder over for many years. At this time, there are no guarantee of wrong or completely right answers, but only theories to the causation of the disorder. By examining multiple biological theories, along with their fallacies (if any are presented) will we detect what the most probable cause is for this disorder.
The important feature of antisocial personality disorder is a blatant and pervasive pattern of violation of the rights of other persons. The onset of this pattern is at childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood. This particular pattern is also referred to as psychopathy, sociopathy or dissocial personality disorder. In order for a person to be diagnosed with ASPD, the individual must have a history of symptoms of conduct disorder 15 years and must be at least 18 years old. Conduct disorder means the individual must have a repetitive and persistent pattern of violating the rights of others around him; for example, aggression to persons and animals, destruction to property, deception, theft and serious violation of rules. The behavour might become less evident as the individual becomes
Individuals with Antisocial Personality Disorder frequently lack empathy and tend to be callous, cynical, and disrespectful of the feelings, rights, and sufferings of others. They may have an inflated and arrogant self-evaluation feeling that ordinary work is beneath them and they may be excessively opinionated, self-assured, or cocky. They may display a glib, superficial charm and can be verbally charismatic using technical terms that might impress someone who is unfamiliar with the topic. Their behavior is not readily modifiable by adverse experience, including punishment and there is a low tolerance to frustration and a low threshold for discharge of aggression, including violence. They also have a tendency to blame others, or to offer plausible rationalizations for their behavior bringing them into conflict with society.
In this paper I will be discussing the causes, symptoms, treatments and cures of the psychological disorder called Antisocial personality disorder. Antisocial personality disorder is also known as sociopathy. Sociopathy is a mental condition where someone continuously shows that they are not able to tell the difference between right and wrong. They also chose to ignore the feelings and rights of others they come in contact with. People with antisocial personality disorder tend to be the antagonizer, manipulate and treat others unkindly and seem to have no feelings of remorse because this disorder defeats the personals morals. They are incapable of containing guilt or remorse for their behaviors. Individuals who have antisocial