tand why he is afflicted with so much grief. The Black Cat is a story that revolves around revenge. It is a more complex then first observed. The man is not lashing out at his animals because they have done something to offend him. The abuse is given because the animals can not fight back. They are defenseless against the brute force. He is really angry at society, but can not tap the proper channels to vent his rage. "I grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others. I suffered myself to use intemperate language to my At length, I even offered…personal violence" (Poe 1). He has grown cold throughout the years losing the lust for life he once had. He needs to seek refuge from the outside world. "…My disease grew upon me-for what disease is like Alcohol (Poe 1). Alcohol gives him a place to hide and, contributes to his lunacy. Under the influence he becomes a monster. Poe himself "uses alcohol as an anesthetic to ease other problems, both physical and emotional" (Mankowitz 236). He feels isolated from society parallel to the nameless man in this story. Deliberately sinning allows the man to feel power. He is in control of his actions. I "…hung it because I knew that it had loved me, and because I knew that in so doing I was committing a sin…" (Poe 2). Challenging a system of beliefs questions its existence. He is almost daring a higher power to punish him. This will let him know if there is something to believe in. He is a lost soul among many that is yearning for something to believe in. Poe is facing death, because of all of the pain he has gone through he too questions God. How could God let him suffer, and take his life so soon? He can not answer this, but his stories do scream the question. Retribution against death is a focus in The Tell-Tale-Heart. The old man is symbolic of death. "He had the eye of a vulture--a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell u...
