The Evil Within Everyone has evil and even the most lovable people have the capacity to become criminals. A writer known for his dark writing style and mysterious tales believes that all humans have the potential to do so, but most of them control the urge. This writer is Edgar Allan Poe, who shares his opinion about the human race through his short stories such as “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Barrel of Amontillado,” and “The Black Cat.” In these stories he shows how humans abuse alcohol, become perverse and ultimately evoke their inner evil. Poe implies that all humans possess this evil and when summoned it will torture and soon destroy everything they have. Alcohol is a commonly used symbol in Poe's literature and has a very unfortunate effect on his characters. When Montresor leads Fortunato to the riverbed, he decides to further intoxicate Fortunato. Before continuing “he broke and received a carafe of De Grâve. [Fortunato] emptied it in one gulp. His eyes shone with a fierce light.” This exemplifies how alcohol can be abused because Montresor benefits from it ...