Edgar Allan Poe (1909-1949), the American writer believes that man is driven into evil and violence by some motive which he cannot understand or anticipate. This need to do evil Poe placed in the idea of "perversity", man's tendency to act for the reason that he should not, to do wrong for the wrong sake only. According to Poe "perversity" is one of the radical impulses of the human heart to act irrationally. It compels man to do the precise deed that will cause him to affront and injure himself. The present study is an attempt to examine Poe's theory of "perversity" illustrated in his short horrific tale The Black Cat. Poe's protagonist (the narrator) is afflicted with perversity and as a result, is engaged in a series of attitudes and actions toward his self-destruction. The ultimate reason why man chooses good or evil is far beyond one's knowledge. In Edgar Alan Poe's fiction, "The sinner is compulsively driven by some motive to be malignant, by some maggot in the brain, which he cannot anticipate or understand"(!). This need to do evil Poe placed in the idea of perversity. Speaking through his narrators, Poe declares that "perversity" is a fundamental force which permeates human existence. It is an unconquerable force that impels us to do the wrong action. People wreck their lives because of impulses beyond their control while humanity seems to be unaware of perversity as the subject is seldom discoursed. Poe did not find it sufficient to illustrate his theory of perversity in one story only. Perhaps, his most lucid portrayal of perversity resides in his masterfully told tale, "The black Cat" published in 1843 and considered one of Poe's "most powerful tales") The narrator tells a tale of horror and murder from a prison cell. Poe was able to create an entirely separate person from himself for this story. "Poe's narrators possess a character and consciousness distinct from their creator. They speak their own thoughts and are the dupes of their own passion.