A Murderers Journey Through The Works Of Dostoyevsky And Poe :: essays research papers fc

A Murderers Journey by means of The Works of Dostoyevsky and Poe     Some peck believe that most murderers have a mental illness whichcauses them to commit their crime. This belief is strongly disagreed with bythe authors Edgar Allan Poe and Fyodor Dostoevsky. annoyance and Punishment, TheTell-Tale Heart, The Black puke,and The Cask of Amontillado are genuinely connaturalin this contradiction. Each murderer takes a specific journey that has beenillustrated in each case. The psychological make-up of each murderer shows thathe is a normal person up to the point at which something compels him to committhis slimy crime, and after that his conscience usually leads to his owndownfall.     Before the murder has been committed the character is a regular humanbeing. In most cases the characters that block up carrying through with thiscrime are above average people. Raskolnikov from offensive and Punishment is "...quite an extraordinarily handsome young man..." (Crime and Punishment, pg.21)Raskolnikov is a very talented university student, with a very good talent forfiguring people out. Raskolinikov takes great pride and care for his family. Onreceiving a letter from his dumbfound     ...he quickly raised the letter to his lips and kissed it then he spenta long time poring over the handwriting on the envelope, over the small, lie handwriting, so familiar and dear to him, of his mother who had oncetaught him to choose and write. (Crime and Punishment, pg.47)Raskolnikovs mother, who taught him how to read and write did this job quitewell. This resulted in a very gifted and brilliant university student. Thispoint is illustrated throughout the novel from the planning and carrying out ofthe murder, to interactions with the police.      The storyteller from the short story "The Black Cat" describes his"tenderness of heart was crimson so conspicuous as to make me t he jest of hiscompanions." ("The Black Cat", pg.390) He is quite a regular human being who is"...especially adoring of animals..." ("The Black Cat", pg.390) The narrator alsohas a great married woman whom he describes as being quite similar to himself, whichshows that he mustiness be quite normal if a good woman chooses to embrace him. Muchalike is the narrator from the short story "The Tell-Tale Heart". again thischaracter is full of love. The victim of his crime had done no damage and forthat the narrator "...loved the old man." ("The Tell-Tale Heart", pg.384) Thenarrator shows the same brilliance in planning the crime that Raskolnikovexhibits. People with great intelligence, great lives, possessions and friendsmust be normal people.