The Tell Tale Heart and The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe are both stories concerning madness and hysteria. Both stories are written from the perspective of a seemingly normal narrator. Both are trying to prove their sanity to the reader. Ironically, in trying to rationalize their actions they prove exactly how mad they are. These similarities can be seen through Poe's use of murder and irrational behavior as well as his use of pace and structure throughout the story.

The use of murder is effectively used by Poe to show the insanity of both characters in the stories. Poe wrote from the perspective of one who believed that anyone could commit such an insane and crazy act at any given moment. In both stories, a murder is committed but because we are so caught up in thinking about how twisted and wrong the mind of the criminal...