The Destructive Power of Guilt Guilt and remorse are emotions that are often experienced by humans in general, and the emotional and physical response to these emotions can be very powerful and misleading. In "the Black Cat", Edgar Allen Poe spins a wondrously horrific plot that consists of a quilt deranged man driven to persecute the object of his offense. The man's ruthless compulsion to ease his guilt through destructive means leads ultimately to his own demise. The murder of Pluto, the appearance of the second black cat, and the ruthless slaying of an innocent woman are the series of significant events that are interweaved to create Poe's