The Imp of the Perverse

My Thoughts

The Imp of the Perverse was a story about giving in to your feral desires to do things simply for the reason that they shouldn't be done. The protagonist apparently kills a neighbor by utilizing an idea he had previously read a memoir about a poisoned candle. A confession is made afterward.

My Rating

I rate this story a 2.5 out of 5. It was not very memorable but Poe's examination of this eerie affliction that pervades all of us is very astute. There was one line in the book that I found particularly interesting. In the very last paragraph of the story the protagonist, before his supposed execution, asks this:

But why shall I say more? To-day I wear these chains, and am here! To-morrow I shall be fetterless!-but where?