Man is constantly dueling with his conscious. He has the potential to accomplish tremendous good in this world as well as to commit horrible evils; sadly, the darker side usually eclipses any good intentions. This is showcased in both “The Birthmark” and “The Black Cat.” In “The Birthmark,” Alymer becomes obsessed with his wife’s hand-shaped birthmark. To him, it symbolizes nature’s conquest over man. It is the only imperfection marring her otherwise perfect countenance, her beauty that is practically divine in its radiance. If he can remove it, then it would show that he has defeated nature, and her purity would shine with more brilliance than ever before. Georgiana is meek and obedient, and fully trusting in her husband’s ability to perform this feat. She is the paradigm of innocence. Even when she discovers his book of all the experiments he has tried and failed at, she still is eager to comply with his wishes. Her love for her husband and her innocence blinds her. Though Alymer knows that his previous experiments have usually ended with quite different results then he had intended, his desire to remove the birthmark is far too deeply rooted at this point to deter him. His passion overrules his reason. Like all men, natural depravity has the potential to bloom in his soul, and in Alymer’s case it does. He thinks he can outwit fate and nature and is not content with what he already has. As a fatal consequence, Georgiana dies. Her birthmark does fade away, but at what cost?
“The Black Cat” is another excellent story in terms of highlighting the struggle man has between his innocence and his natural depravity. The narrator at the beginning of the story is intent on relaying to the reader that he was at one point a kind and caring man, but due to intemperance he has fallen away from his roots. The narrator had a black cat that he adored more than any of his other pets, yet one day he ends up killing it, simply because he knew it was a sin to do so. He feels next to no remorse for this abhorrent crime and claims that an evil possessed him and compelled him to commit it. This evil is his dark side, but it is not an entity separate from him. It is inherently a part of him. He has completely abandoned his innocent nature and succumbed to his natural depravity. He wasn’t always this way, but by letting the dark part of his soul overwhelm him, his whole nature has become completely transformed.
One wonders if he ever were kind and temperate. He is the narrator, so he might be lying.
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