Guilt over people’s personality

The Tell-Tale Heart

The Black Cat

Starting Topic: Guilt

Limited Topic: Guilt in people’s personality

Thesis Statement: Guilt is a psychological trait of the human brain that can lead a person into becoming either an angel or a devil.

Guilt is a psychological emotion and people are hardly aware of it. Sometimes it is related to the feeling of regret and it is originated from certain specific behaviour. Thus, this emotion is often covered with extreme reaction and it can also lead a person into proving themselves about a criminal act. So, it could be said that guilt is a psychological trait of the human brain that can lead a person into becoming either an angel or a devil.

There are many instances where guilt can be seen as taking over a person’s personality. Many people are aware of the complexities of human brain and its effects on human behaviour. So, it is said that in many circumstances guilt can change people’s personality. Because of guilt many acts can be done without even realizing at all. A clear example of this issue is well demonstrated in ‘The Black Cat’, where the cat starts avoiding the narrator due to his change in personality. He turns from being a very kind person to an evil who drinks and beats his wife and pets. That is why the man becomes even more irritated when he is ignored as it makes him feel guilty of being aggressive to the ones he once loved very much. Due to his guiltiness, even though Pluto is his favourite pet, he hangs him.

In many cases, guiltiness wins and makes a person confess a criminal act. It is not easy to deal with the feeling of guilt. Many people cannot keep it and that is when confessions arise. The ones who try not to admit it can go mad. This example is well shown in ‘The Tell- Tale Heart’, when the narrator gets nervous and finishes confessing to the police what he has done with the old man. Even though he likes the man, it is the eye which he hates. In order to get rid of it, he kills him. He achieves freedom in a way, but on the other hand, he is captured by guiltiness. 

Thus, guilt is a feature of human mind that can come out to the surface at any moment. This feeling really makes you feel that a huge weight is on your shoulders. Sometimes people need to let this pressure out in order to feel better, without thinking of the consequences it may lead to. In ‘The Black Cat’, after the narrator murders his wife, he tries to hide his action by walling her up in the cellar. Due to his guiltiness, he spills out the truth of the crime to the police. Why does it happen? Is it because the sense of guilt comes back as well as it goes again and again?

Many circumstances may be lived through our whole life. Some of them can be good acts and others really bad ones. Whenever an evil reaction arises, guiltiness also appears. This is because of the way in which human brain works and how it leaves an effect on the person’s thoughts and behaviour. Due to this fact, a person personality is shaped and so, it can be said that guilt is a psychological trait of the human brain that can lead a person into becoming either an angel or a devil.