Paper Example. Comparison and Contract of the Characters in "The Black Cat" and "Tell-Tale Heart"

"The Black Cat" and "Tell-tale Heart" are some of the most memorable short stories documented in a classical genre and gothic literature by Edgar Allan Poe. Notably, Both the short stories are narrated using a first-person perspective and employ multiple themes, including death, justice, superstition, insanity, and alcoholism, which are exemplified by the characters in both stories (Zain 128). Therefore, the paper aims to compare and contrast character analysis in both "The Black Cat" and "Tell-tale Heart."

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Similarities

Both stories employ the use of a violent character. The insane characters resort to violence to square their obsession. In “The Black Cat, the character gashes the cat’s eyes and later kills the cat through violent means of hanging the cat. He stipulates that "This spirit of perverseness, I say, came to my final overthrow. It was this unfathomable longing of the soul to vex itself—to offer violence to its own nature—to do wrong for the wrong's sake only—that urged me to continue and finally to consummate the injury I had inflicted upon the unoffending brute." (Zain 129). Moreover, he proceeds and beats his wife. The character in “The Tell-Tale Heart” maneuvers in the bedroom of an old man by violent means of cracking the bedroom door and directing a ray of light towards the man’s gruesome eyes. He stipulates that “very gradually —I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever." (Zain 131). He later murders the older man and buries him under the floor of his sitting-room. Moreover, in both narratives, characters' actions are justified by anxiety caused by an "eye," which are "the windows of the soul." As a result, both characters feel that their actions justify their personality.

Differences

Multiple differences exist between the characters in "The Black Cat," and "Tell-Tale Heart." First is the character's intention and duration of effecting their murders. In "The Tell-Tale Heart," the character's plan for the murder take a long duration. It takes the narrator a total of eight days to map the plan. He succeeds and finally murders the older man. However, in "The Black Cat," the character kills his target without much plan and in a close range. The alcoholic character murders his target Pluto by torturing him to death. Another difference exists in the aftermath of the action of the characters. In "The Tell-Tale Heart," the narrator confessed openly since he was afraid he would be traced. The Butler murders his master because of his eyes that looked scary. (Zain 132). Therefore, as the story notes, every heart has a tale; he finally confesses to the police by admitting his actions by claiming that he hears the heartbeat of the deceased voice calling. However, the narrator in "The Black Cat" did not confess, but his actions were found out by the police.

The character having thought he had committed a perfect crime by murdering his wife, placed the body in a cellar and walled it so that no traces could be seen and feels quite comfortable when the police are around for investigation. The narrator was extremely cautious about leaving no clues, which could lead to the identification of his wife's body. Surprisingly, he is shocked when he hears a terrible sound from the cellar of a mewling cat behind the wall where he had dumped his wife's body. The police use the sound to locate the body. The character in The Black Cat was an alcoholic, which he claims contributed to his action due to his increased temper.

In contrast, The Tell-Tale Heart was not characterized but rather claimed that he was driven by an intensified sense of hearing related to a disease. The Black Cat shed insights into how alcoholism influenced the actions of the narrator. The malicious consumption of alcohol led the narrator to commit many ill-motivated crimes and further led to his eventual demise and loss of sanity (Zain 136). Besides, the supernatural factor that drives the narrators' actions is different. In The Black Cat, the supernatural factor is the spirit of perverseness, while in the telltale, it is the heartbeat sound of the deceased. The narrator's action is erratic, violent, and paranoid, which was contrary to his self-depiction of being humanist, soul-tendered, and animal lover.

When he comes homes one night drunk, he intrinsically believes that his black cat, Pluto, is avoiding him. In the end, Pluto was on the receiving end of the narrator's wrath; he uses a knife to cut off one of the plot's eyes only for the next morning to feel ashamed of his actions and promise to be better next time. However, his promise does not hold as he continues with his violent actions (Zain 137). Lastly, the primary objectives of the narrators in telling their stories are also different. In "The Black Cat," the character stipulates that it is his method of being relieved by unburdening his soul before he perishes. On the other hand, in "The Tell-Tale Heart," the narrator reveals his story in a desperate attempt to prove that he is not insane.

Work Cited

Zain, Abd. R. "The Comparative Analysis of Affect’s Realization in The Tell-Tale Heart and The Black Cat Short Stories (Approach: Appraisal System)." E-Structural, vol. 2, no. 2, 2020, pp. 128-139.