"The Black Cat"

(Edgar A. Poe)
(pg. 513)


   In this story, Poe uses a phrase to describe a bad feeling that comes over him that causes him to think and do horrible things! This term is 'spirit of perverseness.' Many people have episodes where their spirit of perverseness shows itself. When we say that phrase; however, it may not make total sense to some. I will try to explain... When I think of the word perverse, I think of something gross, morbid, dark, horrible, or something that could be detrimental to someone. According to Webster's online dictionary, the word perverse means, "A turned away from something that is right or good: corrupt." Overall, perverseness is not a very good thing. In fact, it is in no way associated with the word good. For example, I can remember a time in my own life when something like this took over me. I was probably about ten years old, and i had gotten in a little bit of trouble with my parents. I think it was something as simple as talking back, but I can remember thinking it was the end of the world as I knew it. Confined to my room for a while, anger began to well up inside me. Keep in mind, I was a very happy go lucky child and was rarely ever angry. It only took moments for me to give myself over to the anger and act. Stupidly, I then reached for my hairbrush and proceeded to chuck it across the room into a wall. Once it had slammed against the wall, I recovered from my spirit of "evil." I felt awful afterwards. I went over and noticed that I had created a large gash in my wall. I can remember thinking to myself "what was i thinking?" To this day, that gash still remains in my wall. It is a constant reminder to keep myself in check, and not to give myself over to foolish things and spirits! Keep yourself pure. Perverseness is a bad character trait to possess. It doesn't mean you are a bad person if you have it...you just have some work to do.


:)lgj