Dark Romanticism

1. I would have to say I definitely fall closer to being a Dark Romanticism. I don't believe that everyone is pure and good. Look around the world today. There are too many murderers, child molesters, rapists, and abuser out there for everyone to be pure. There is evil inside of us. I just believe some of us let more out then others. I do agree that original sin has made us all sinners. That's why Jesus died on the cross. To relieve us of our sins and the sin already marked onto us.

2. Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe was about a man who was possessed by evil and eventually let it control him. He first started with being agitated by his cat. He ended up hanging the cat. He then got another cat and shortly after was annoyed. He could only keep himself from doing it harm for so long. When he tried to chop off his head with an ax he was stopped by his wife. Who in return got an ax blown to her head. He buried her corps on the inside of the wall. When police came over to the house to search he let them look through the whole house. When it came to the wall where his wife was buried he hit it to prove how string they hold up. After doing so a sound came from inside the wall. When it was torn apart, he came to find out he buried the cat inside the wall wih the corpse of his wife. To me the story was very strange, but understandable. Someone who has anger like that built up is likely to blow, and when they do, it will be big.

Transcendentalist believed that everyone was pure and good. The man in this story was obviously evil. In the story Black Cat the man is obviously evil. He commits evil acts just to comment him, like in the text it states, "--hung it because in doing so I knew I was committing a sin--" He hung the cat just because he knew it was wrong, "--to do wrong for the wrong's sake only." Dark Romanticism believed there was evil inside of everyone. This story obviously shows that.

3. The Raven is about a man who was sleeping and awoken by someone knocking on his door. When he went to the door no one was there. This frightened him because he heard someone at the door. He says, "Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing," When no one was there he tried to lay back down and go back to sleep. He was awoken once again by a louder tapping, this time at his window. He opened it and in flew a Raven and perched upon his door.

When the Raven was sitting perched on his door he says to it, " 'Prophet!" said I, 'thing of evil!--prophet still, if bird or devil!'--" This line stood out to me. He thinks that the bird is evil and may be possessed by the devil. This frightens him and he wants the bird to get out of his house.

This is an example of Dark Romanticism because a Transcendentalist would never think that a bird was evil. They believe that a bird is a creature made from God so therefore it is pure and good just like the humans. They would never question whether the bird was possessed by the devil or not.