Reason vs. Impulse
Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Imp of the Perverse” opens with what seems to be an essay on human impulses. Using verbose and technical language, the first-person narrator discusses how sciences like phrenology have ignored a certain impulse towards “perversity.” Instead, they assume that all impulses must be beneficial and sent by God, and a “perverse” impulse is inherently destructive. This introduction then shifts to a discussion of the narrator’s own life: he is…
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Crime, Justice, and Punishment
Poe is known for his horror stories and murder mysteries, and “The Imp of the Perverse” flirts with both genres. This is a tale of murder and punishment: the anonymous narrator commits a seemingly perfect crime, gets away with it for years, then inexplicably confesses and is condemned to be hanged. Though the narrator expresses no guilt for his crime, and the murder itself is described only briefly and detachedly, justice does find him in…
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Madness and Obsession
Poe wrote about madness frequently, and many of his most famous stories concern protagonists who have either gone insane or are being driven insane as the story unfolds. The narrator, as both a cold-blooded killer and a victim of his own self-destructive impulses, exemplifies various kinds of madness and obsession. Indeed, though the essay’s opening paragraphs are largely devoted to proofs of the narrator’s objectivity and sound reasoning ability, his actions suggest that he…
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