Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[jays]

I want to know the meaning of "understand it to be such" in the following sentence. Thank you. [The Black Cat, Adgar Allen Poe]
----- the following -----
Who has not, a hundred times, found himself committing a vile or a silly action, for no other reason than because he knows he should not? Have we not a perpetual inclination, in the teeth of our best judgment, to violate that which is Law , merely because we understand it to be such? This spirit of perverseness, I say, came to my final overthrow.

[lotus]

Hi jays,

Quote:
Who has not, a hundred times, found himself committing a vile or a silly action, for no other reason than because he knows he should not? Have we not a perpetual inclination, in the teeth of our best judgment, to violate that which is Law , merely because we understand it to be such? This spirit of perverseness, I say, came to my final overthrow.
EAP

We understand it as it is, or as we know it, or to be so.

Even though we know something to be vile or unlawful, we still act unlawfully, because we are perverse at our very core.

Poe, in my opinion, was one of the greatest American writers - if not the best ever. I recommend reading "The Masque of the Red Death." Like most of his works, it delves into the macabre. If you can get past the dark subject matter, you'll see what a great writer he was. One of the things you'll notice about his works is the vividness of his literary images (sometimes to very frightening effect). The other, is his use of alliteration and the unrelenting cadence or rhythm of the words in his sentences. When you read it, you want to say it out loud. Some say he was mad. Others say he was a genius. They all say he had a great command of the English language. No doubt his vocabulary was huge. However, you'll notice his excellent selection and economy of words. It may not seem so to a beginning reader - but the more you read him, the more you'll see how rarely one can find a better way to say it.

The Masque of the Red Death, in my opinion, epitomized his genius and style. As well, it is an enjoyable read - especially since we are near Halloween!

http://www.poemuseum.org/selected_works/red_death.html

Notice the use of the word Avatar in the third sentence. Its definition of an archetypal representation was used almost a hundred and seventy years ago! Poe was a trend-setter!

My favorite passage:
There are chords in the hearts of the most reckless which cannot be touched without emotion. Even with the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, there are matters of which no jest can be made.

Of course, the last paragraph is perhaps the greatest ending to any short story:
And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.


--lotus