For two stories The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe and Miriam by Truman Capote, both protagonists are influenced by their powerful thoughts and mental problems , which provoke by different objects of the external world and the internal struggles. In the first case, alcohol ultimately tragically drags the character into the dark abyss. For the second, the hallucinated young girl, Miriam, changes the protagonist's life and takes hold of his deepest fears and his ideological struggle. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay To begin with, the character of The Black Cat is affected by the conflict and struggle between himself and the outside world. This is the reason why his mind and emotions have changed as his alcohol abuse becomes more and more severe. He says that he has gotten along with animals since his childhood, he even thinks that the people around him are a “paltry friendship” and that animals are more “loyal” than humanity. However, his mind changes after being introduced to alcohol, which is the external object that influences his personality and humanity. The first characteristic is that he brutally kills his favorite cat and even “cuts one of his eyes out of the socket”. After this action, he hardly feels guilty but still regrets with simple sympathy. Things get worse when he kills the first cat and meets the second cat, who looks the same but has a slightly different neck. This also reflects his morbid state of mind. From his point of view, the fur on the cat's neck is a "gallows", meaning that the character can see his sin, but the alcohol is extremely strong and sinks into his soul and mind, making him also bad and ends up killing his wife. On the other hand, Mrs. Miller in Miriam has a different experience than the character in The Black Cat. Her loneliness is the weapon that impacts her mind and causes her mental illness, meaning she has an external struggle throughout the entire story. The allusion to Miriam is the most reliable evidence that could demonstrate her mentality. She describes and realizes that “there is nothing more disturbing than a feeling of darkness.” It is a visible warning about the emptiness of his heart. Her change of heart becomes more dramatic after meeting Miriam, she feels "strangely excited" at first because of Miriam's appearance, but after going to her house and taking away her box, she begins to panic and become “feverishly agitated”. . Finally, the allusion she creates through her mind haunts her in the end, and Miriam's eventual appearance shows that her superficial emotions and infirm thoughts will never fade away. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.Get a custom essayTo summarize, these two characters also find themselves in similar situations as they see their minds changing. Both are eventually murdered because of their mental problem. The character of the Black Cat reflects his mental illness due to his alcohol addiction. He needs an external force to heal himself and to numb him by drinking. For the second story, Miriam is a creature that appears in her old year of life, which could represent that her life is running out, the massive loneliness surrounding her in the atmosphere makes her unbreathable. Additionally, the feeling of suffocation makes her terrified and she might feel the loss of every life while staying with Miriam. The struggles and conflicts in the minds of the two protagonists were the strongest power that made their mental fortress collapse..