Comparing The Yellow Wallpaper And The Black Cat

Edgar Allen Poe truly deserves the title of the master of psychological horror, based on the unpredictability of the main character and the gruesome moments displayed in "The Black Cat” (Poe 1843/2021). In contrast, the stories "The Hypnotist" (Bierce 1893/2003), and "The Yellow Wallpaper" (Gilman 1892/2021) contain terrifying elements but lack the strength to instill great psychological terror into the reader. In “The Black Cat” (Poe 1843/2021), the narrator's emotions are unpredictable and change from start to end. Initially, Poe (1843/2021) describes the narrator as docile and has a tender heart. He discussed his fondness for animals, especially his black cat Pluto, who was his favorite. However, as time went on, his mood began to change and contradicted how he used to

As the story progresses, the narrator commits atrocious crimes, such as gruesomely murdering his cat and killing his wife for no apparent reason, which comes as a shock to the reader. The unpredictable and drastic character change comes as a shock to the reader. The narrator dives into a world of terrifying madness that evokes great fear and psychological terror. In “The Hypnotist” (Bierce 1893/2003) the narrator’s emotions are predictable and stay the same throughout the story. Bierce (1893/2003) paints the narrator as scientific and straightforward. After the narrator figures out that he has the power of hypnotism, he uses it for his gain, but also experiments with it to see how far his power will go. Although he murders a girl, the prison warden, and his parents, it has little effect on the reader because from the start he is established as a murderer. He is very calm about his actions and even goes so far as to justify them and state how he is trying to determine the full extent of his power. The narrator’s actions do not contradict each other, causing his character to be predictable, thus taking away from the shock