Comparing The Black Cat And The Tell-Tale Heart

Eyes observe. Eyes perceive. Eyes understand. They know everything about you and who you are. They are the windows to the soul, and they can never be abolished. In the stories The Tell-Tale Heart and The Black Cat, both narrators realize their acts were wrong, but they did them anyway by rationalizing that they were driven by circumstance. The Tell-Tale Heart is about, a man who is trying to prove his sanity, however, in doing so, the proves his insanity. The man who is also the narrator of the story plots to kill the man with the disturbed eye; to rid of the oppressing evil forever. So every night he soundlessly sneaks into the man's room, and searches for any hints of the troubled eye. For eight straight nights, consecutively, he does this

and not until the eighth night does he commit the crime. The narrator killed the man with the eye, barbered him to pieces, and put him under the floorboards. Finally, when the police come to investigate the man begins the hear the heartbeat of the man, and tears up the planks of the floor, rightfully committing himself to a life sentence in jail. Similarly, The Black Cat is about a man who again, is trying to prove his lucidity. The man has a deep passion for animals, especially his cat, Pluto, who loves the man dearly. One day, while under the influence of alcohol, the narrator cuts the eye out of the cat, and after hangs the cat from a tree. Then many days and a fire later, another cat shows up at his doorstep. This cat reminds the man so much of his other cat and he tries to kill it, however in doing so, the kills his wife, and puts both her and the cat in the walls of his cellar. Finally, when the police come to investigate the cat makes a noise and the police unveil the truth. The theme in both stories is that of good versus evil. Evil lurks in the hearts of all, and sometimes people act upon it. The author develops this theme by using first person narration and symbolism.
In The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe presents the reader with an unreliable narrator that adds to the theme. The narrator tries his hardest to prove that he is sane, however we know that he is quite far from it. First, as it states in The Tell-Tale Heart, “TRUE! --nervous --very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses --not destroyed --not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily --how calmly I can tell you the whole story.” In this quote the man is claiming to not be mad, he is claiming to hear everything in the heaven and earth, while telling us to listen to the story that he is about to explain. Moreover, the narrator states in the story, The Tell-Tale Heart, “It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees --very gradually --I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.” In this quote the author is explaining how he loved the old man dearly, however due to the fact that he hated and despised his eye, he conceived the idea to kill the man and rid forever of the Evil Eye. There are many ways in the The Tell-Tale Heart, were the narrator is perceived to be insane.
Similarly in The Black Cat, the narrator writes from a first person perspective, and likewise tells the reader that he is not “mad”. Primarily, in The Black Cat, the author tries to prove that he is stable by stating, “ Yet, mad am I not—and very surely do I not dream. But to-morrow I die, and to-day I would unburden my soul. My immediate purpose is to place before the world, plainly, succinctly, and without comment, a series of mere household events.” This quote proves that the narrator is absurd for he thinks that murdering both a cat and his own wife is nothing more than “mere household events”. Furthermore, in The Black Cat, the narrator states, “One day she accompanied me, upon some household errand, into the cellar of the old building which our poverty compelled us to inhabit. The cat followed me down the steep stairs, and, nearly throwing me headlong, exasperated me to madness. Uplifting an axe, and forgetting, in my wrath, the childish dread which had hitherto stayed my hand, I aimed a blow at the animal, which, of course, would have proved instantly fatal had it descended as I wished. But this blow was arrested by the hand of my wife. Goaded by the interference into a rage more than demoniacal, I withdrew my arm from her grasp and buried the axe in her brain. She fell dead upon the spot without a groan.” He killed his wife and seemed to be proud of his dreadful deed. He put her in the walls of his cellar in his own home and showed nothing less than triumph. There are numerous ways in The Black Cat where the narrator is perceived to be demented.
Poe uses many symbols to display theme in the The Tell-Tale Heart.

The eye is a key symbol that Poe offers again and again throughout his story. It is the reason that the narrator gives for killing the old man. The Evil Eye could see who he really is; the eye can tell that he is insane; the eye is the window to the soul. As it states in The Tell-Tale Heart, It was open --wide, wide open --and I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect distinctness --all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in my bones; but I could see nothing else of the old man's face or person: for I had directed the ray as if by instinct, precisely upon the damned spot.” As the quote shows, the man loathes against the eye so much that he shivers just at the plain sight of it. The eye is what led the man to commit the unforgiving deed. Another symbol mentioned throughout the text are the floorboards. They represent the fact that you can never simply sweep away your problems for they will always find a way to resurface. The floorboards represent the attempt to cover up negative situations. As it states in The Tell-Tale Heart, “I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all between the scantlings. I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human eye --not even his --could have detected anything wrong. There was nothing to wash out --no stain of any kind --no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary for that. A

tub had caught all --ha! Ha!” As this quote shows, after the man dismembered the corpse he put it under the floorboards to be kept there. He seemed to be proud of his hideous deed, and after continued on with his day. There are multiple symbols that are displayed throughout the story.
Likewise, the eye is a symbol in The Black Cat.

The narrator cuts one eye from his first cat, Pluto in a violent alcoholic rage. He loves the cat so much, but still commits this horrible deed. The man had two cats. Then later kills the cat by hanging it from a tree, and soon after that another cat shows up at his doorstep, coincidently, it had no eye. The eyes of the cats represent the knowledge and knowing of the madness placed within the narrator. They can tell that he is manic, and sanity is not one of his qualities. He knew that killing the cats was the only way of releasing any evidence of his madness. As it states in The Black Cat, “What added, no doubt, to my hatred of the beast, was the discovery, on the morning after I brought it home, that, like Pluto, it also had been deprived of one of its eyes.” This quote shows that, like Pluto, the cat was also missing one of it’s eyes. Another symbol that Poe uses throughout this suspenseful story is the wall. The first wall that accommodated the fire symbolized that you cannot hide your problems. The second wall; the one that the man made, symbolized pride and confidence, and along with the first wall, that you cannot hide your problems. As it states in The Black Cat, “And in this calculation I was not deceived. By means of a crowbar I easily dislodged the bricks, and, having carefully deposited the body against the inner wall, I propped it in that position, while with little trouble, I re-laid the whole structure as it

originally stood. Having procured mortar, sand, and hair, with every possible precaution, I prepared a plaster which could not be distinguished from the old, and with this I very carefully went over the new brickwork. When I had finished, I felt satisfied that all was right. The wall did not present the slightest appearance of having been disturbed. The rubbish on the floor was picked up with the minutest care. I looked around triumphantly, and said to myself: ‘Here at least, then, my labor has not been in vain.’” This quote shows that the man was extremely proud of his work of reconstructing the wall, and hiding his wife and cat inside of it. There are also many symbols used in the story, The Black Cat.
Through both first person narration and symbolism, Poe creatively depicts the theme of good versus evil. Both narrators had a choice- a choice to do the right thing. Both chose the wrong path. They let their obstacles and problems define who they were and who they were meant to be. But always remember that there is no way to completely conceal your problems, worries and troubles because they will always find a way to resurface and bite you right back in the bud. In the stories The Tell-Tale Heart and The Black Cat, both narrators realize their acts were wrong, but they did them anyway by rationalizing that they were driven by their circumstances.