“When excessive kindness is expressed externally, the cruelty of which all humans are capable sinks down into the internal world. Cruelty eventually develops beyond the control of the ego and gains autonomy. In ordinary circumstances, the ego maintains a balance between kindness and cruelty: kindness – ego – cruelty. But superhuman kindness, like an angel, cannot be controlled by the ego. Some cue gets triggered, and it flips over. In the case of “The Black Cat,” the trigger was alcohol.”