In both "The Black Cat" and "The Tell-Tale Heart," the main characters open the narratives by convincing the reader he is not mad. The narrator then proceeds to explain why this is the case, and the story provides justification for his actions. The narrators believe their mental health is critical information for the reader to grasp, causing the reader to wonder if they are really crazy after all. The murder victims of both stories share similar characteristics, for instance, the victims' eye is an important aspect of both. In "The Tell-Tale Heart," the entire purpose of killing the old man was to rid the narrator of his cloudy blue vulture eye. The narrator of "The Black Cat" was also disturbed by eyes as he gouged out his own cat's eye and his new cat possessed an eye deformity. The eye is very significant as it is a key factor that leads the narrator into murder. The murderers also shared very personally, intimate relationships with their victims. The narrator of "The Tell-Tale Heart" repeatedly expressed his love for the old man, and the narrator of "The Black Cat" killed his beloved wife and two favorite pets. It was interesting to discover that the thing the two narrators loved most was their object of affection, yet it became the thing they decided to kill.
The portrayal of the woman in this stanza expresses how some Hindu or Muslim communities would view this practice; it contrasts the speaker's views expressed in the final stanza.
