Poe_-_Insanity_In_His_Characters

Poe - Insanity In His Characters Poe uses a myriad of settings and plots in his stories and poems. The common thread is that his narrators appear to be insane. This is exhibited in “The Cask of Amontillado”, “The Tell Tale Heart”, and “The Black Cat.” Montressor, the narrator of “The Cask of Amontillado,” exhibits insanity. At the beginning of the story, Montressor speaks with intense anger and remorse. The reader is then told that the incident occurred fifty years ago. Obviously, a person who would hold a grudge for fifty years so strongly that he desires to kill a man, this narrator has psychological problems. Also, the way that Montressor meticulously planned out the murder of Fortunato shows that he is obsessive and has psychological problems. The murder that Montressor killed him, by chaining him up to a wall and building a wall around him, is a warped, cruel way to kill him. Montressor exhibits insanity in “The Cask of Amontillado.” The second narrator that exhibits insanity is the anonymous narrator of “The Tell Tale Heart.” The narrator was driven to callous murder of the poor elderly man because of a strange eye. The narrator even doubts his own insanity stating, “But why will you say that I am mad'” narrator, insanity, murder, cat, mad, heart, tell, tale, poe, montressor, insane, exhibits, cask, black, amontillado, story, reader, psychological, problems, own, man, because, anonymous, years, way, wall, very, stating, states, slept, shows, remorse, obviously, night, narrators, kill