Poe's contribution to the psychology of the monster Poe's contribution to the psychology of the monster is the ego, he gives the enormous ego of his monster. Its monsters aren't scary-looking things that come at you in the dark, they're intelligent, thoughtful, self-assured people, which is much scarier. Eventually the monsters' grandiose vision of themselves would lead them to reveal their true selves, the MONSTERS. I will focus on three Poe stories to illustrate how the ego is Poe's contribution to the psychology of the monster. In The Little Devil of the Perverse the monster in the story begins by saying that we as a culture “the phrenologist has failed to make room for a propensity” (The Little Devil of the Perverse 93). It takes a person with a significant ego to make a statement like this. Here he is saying that those who study the human brain have left no room in their studies for the inexplicable actions of people. In the Tell Tale Heart the monster in this story says he can feel everything “I have felt all things in heaven and earth . I have heard many things in hell. (The Tell Tale Heart 691) Another great statement from this character was "it is impossible to say how the idea first entered my brain" (The Tell Tale Heart 691). ) These statements show two things: one that the person is obviously crazy and two that he thinks highly of himself. In The Black Cat the monster's ego emerges about halfway through the story, but it's still an impressive statement “I am above the weakness of trying to establish a sequence of cause and effect, between disaster and atrocity.” (The Black Cat 697) This statement indicates that the monster's ego makes him believe that he does not have time to understand why there was a fire. He is… halfway through the paper… committed, to the point that he states “it is inconceivable how intense a feeling of satisfaction arose in my chest as I reflected on my absolute security.” (The Devil of the Perverse 97) From here the monster goes into psychological haywire and ends up telling his story. But it was his ego that filled him with so much pride that it led to his demise. The last example comes from Tell Tale Heart where the monster invites the police into the room to look around. This shows extreme confidence but ultimately reveals where the body is. His ego invited the cops in and ultimately allowed him to be caught. In each story the monster's ego gives them the confidence to commit the murder and the intelligence to hide it effectively. But it is also their ego that begins their downfall. Poe's contribution to the psychology of the monster is the Ego.