Edgar Allen Poe has been known for his themes of revenge and perversity. Two short stories that illustrate these themes are “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Black Cat”. Many critics have argued that these stories were not about revenge, but more about perversity and the cruelty of the human mind. Believe it or not, every human being is capable of murder, many do it out of revenge but there are still those who do it for no apparent reason. Poe portrays in each of the characters, the darker side of the human soul.
In the short story “The Black Cat” the narrator of the story undergoes a significant change in his character. At first both husband and wife adores their cat very much. He soon became addicted to drinking making him more and more crazy by the day, which led to the dislike of his cat. Because of this, he decides to cut one of its eyes with a penknife. Later on as his drinking led him to reach insanity to its full extent, the narrator hangs the cat and explains his reason for hanging it by saying “I knew that it loved me, and because I felt it had given me no reason of offense... and I knew that in so doing I was committing a sin-a deadly sin.” (245). By saying that, the narrator shows no reason for co

Montresor tells Fortunato about a Cask of Amontillado (which is a barrel of expensive and rare wine). As they’re on their way to the vault, Montresor uses reverse psychology and increases Fortunato’s desire to go to the cold vault. Fortunato continues to insult him through the whole trip. Meanwhile, Montresor chains up Fortunato and builds a wall around him. He leaves Fortunato to suffer until his death in the dark, cold vault inside the brick wall.

murder of the cat has been committed, the character shows no remorse towards his actions. He acts as if no wrong has been done.

In the “The Cask of the Amontillado” There are two characters Fortunato and Montresor. Fortunato is a characterized as a bragger who constantly boasts about his wine tasting expertise. Montresor, on the other hand, is a jealous character that desperately wants to win one wine-tasting contest. Because he’s fed up with being the loser in the contest every year, he plans to trick Fortunato into

atrocious acts. Sometimes when we love someone so much, we become obsessed and do whatever we can to get at him/her,