12.What motif, or recurring idea, does Poe use to develop the story's theme? Cite examples from the text to explain how the same idea or event is repeated in the story.

Many of Poe's short stories are from the perspective of someone who is "mad." Although the narrator at first does not appear mad, we later learn that he is in prison for murder. Like many of Poe's narrators, he maintains that he is not mad, which is a clear indication that he is.

After describing the events of the murder he committed, the whole narrative descends into chaos. When talking about perverseness, the narrator states that "Under certain conditions, it becomes absolutely irresistible". We see that these conditions are actually the conditions of psychological abnormalities, that the narrator himself experiences.