Genre Study for "A Short Guide to the City"

A big theme in Gothic fiction is the idea of the imp of the perverse. The imp of the perverse is a metahpor for the tendency of a person to do exactly the wrong thing in a given situation. The concept is that the misbehavior is due to an imp (a small demon) leading an otherwise decent person into mischief. It is when somebody's thinking is seriously wrong. It could be the way that they think. The imp of the perverse was originally used and popularized in Gothic fiction by Edgar Allan Poe. In using this convention, the author is trying to show what can happen when the thinking of an individual goes bad. It is a big convention in Gothic fiction and is found in many Gothic stories, including some of the stories we have read this semester.

The imp of the perverse is seen in "Strawberry Spring". The narrarator seems to be a normal person. It turns out that he is a ruthless serial killer. The thing is that he does not remember doing any of these murders unitl the end of the story when he figures out that he isa serial killer. There is somehing seriously wrong with his thought pattern.

The imp of the perverse also appears in "The Black Cat". The narrator orginally loves all animals. Then, they get a black cat and he begins to hate the cat so much that he wants to kill the cat. He ends up hanging the cat. This behavior is not normal especially because he was orignally a normal animal-loving person. What is even less normal is that he eventually kills his wife (even though he did not mean to) in an attempt to kill the cat and he buries his wife in the wall. This is a classic example of the imp of the perverse, especially because it was written by Poe.

Yet, another example is found in "The Yellow Wallpaper". She was not always insane and is using the rest cure possibly for post-pardun depression. She ends up destroying her room after her fall into complete insanity.

There are a few examples of the imp of the perverse in "Twin Peaks". Firstly, many of the characters are using ulterior motives to get what they want including Josie. Secondly, there is cocaine being sold in the town to students. Both of these things leads to several murders. Bobby also frames James by putting cocaine in the gas tank of his motorcycle.

Another big example of the imp of the perverse occurs in "A Rose for Emily". Emily Grierson kills her new husband and sleeps with his corpse for the rest of her life. The imp of the perverse can be found being employed in almost any and every Gothic fiction story..

In "A Short Guide to the City", there are several examples of the imp of the perverse. One can be found on page 363, where people in the Polish district practice self-mutilation. Also on page 363, the narrator explains that once a decade, people of the family decide that the whole family must be sacrificed. Another example occurs on page 365, where the children that live in the "children's cities" practice violence by tattooing themselves and raiding rival tribes. The last example is on page 367 when the narrator explains how two or three citizens each year elect to commit thier suicides by leaping into the electric fence.

The big difference between "A Guide to the City" and the other stories is that in "A Guide to the City" the imp of the perverse is shown by groups of people in society and in the other stories in is shown in the psychology of the individuals. The imp of the perverse almost always shows some type of malevolent behavior. This is the case in all of the stories I have discussed except for "The Yellow Wallpaper". The fact that "A Short Guide to the City" shows the imp of the perverse in the society of the city rather than the psychology of the individual makes it a unique story.

Ever since Edgar Allan Poe used it, the imp of the perverse is a huge theme in Gothic stories. It shows what can happen when something goes wrong with the thought pattern of an individual. "A Short Guide to the City" is an exception to this. Because of its uniqueness, it is a truly great work of art.

"Nevermore"