Part one of term paper
Poe presents the narrators of "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Cask of Amontillado" as devious, obsessed characters. Both are overpowered by the need to consume the life of their victim. Though they use different strategies to carry out the murders in different ways, obsession is the driving force in both. It is this obsession that inspires the ...

Part two of term paper
... with the eye that drives him to commit the murder, despite his relatively good feelings toward the old man personally. This is why he is unable to harm the old man when the eye is concealed. His obsession with the eye is what controls him and his actions. Without it in sight to enrage this obsession, he is unable to harm the old man. This also is why he must shine the lantern light upon only that eye. By leaving the rest of the old man in the dark, he in a sense de-humanizes the victim. His ...