Edgar Allan Poe!!!!!!!

I love Edgar Allan Poe!  I really enjoy reading his works and delving into the darkness and well thought deceits of murderous beings.  I think it is interesting that the narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart,” is so adamant on defending his sanity.  By so vigorously denying that he is mad, he further proves to the reader that he is not in his right mind.  He explains that he actually liked the “Old Man” he so carefully planned to kill. The narrator is obviously crazy; I think the question is when exactly did he become mad?  Before he killed the Old Man, due to guilt and his conscience forcing him to take responsibility for the murder of the Old Man, or was it way before he actually killed him?  I think he was mad all along; why feel the need to prove that you are not crazy, if you are not crazy.  I think the narrator’s definition of madness is a little different from that of the readers.  Killing another human being is never okay, but it becomes a lot more understandable when someone, in a fit of rage, kills someone.  No deceitful planning, no murderous intentions, but rather an action that was not intended and only performed when a person saw red and lost control.  I think that it takes a crazy person to plan the murder of someone that they care about because of something as trivial as an eye.  The narrator was so careful, he did not act rashly, he could have easily talked himself out of performing the murderous deed, but he didn’t.  He was so taken aback by an “Evil Eye,” that he had to take the Old Man’s life into his own hands. This need is obviously driven by a chemical imbalance of the brain; that is not a normal response to seeing something that makes you feel uncomfortable.  I think that it’s interesting that the narrator’s “highly acute senses” drove him to murder the Old Man, and also drove him to confess.  Which makes me wonder where exactly is the narrator telling this story.  Is he in jail or an insane asylum?  I think he is probably being treated at an asylum because he is so persistent on convincing us that he is not mad. 

The writing style for “The Cask of Amontillado” is very similar to that of “The Tell-Tale Heart.” The narrator wants to get revenge on his “friend” and he deceitfully lures Fortunato, the victim, to his own grave.  The plan was well thought out and required a lot of preparation, much in the same way the murder of the Old Man was not impulsive.  I wonder what Fortunato did that wronged the narrator so.  Poe does a good job at providing hints to the motives of the narrator, such as the description of the family crest, with the motto: “Nemo me impune lacessit,” meaning, nobody attacks me with impunity.  The narrator is often a fan of revenge, but obviously takes it way too far.  The two-faced character of the narrators in both “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado” creeps me out every time.  It makes me wonder what it is people are really thinking.