Hi litguy, yes excellent take on things -- all the elements you mention make sense to me, and were on my mind at various points during the writing and revision of Edgar's story. I do think of the "certain compensation" passage as key to my understanding of this story, though I don't know I can sum it up any better than what is in the story itself, or what you wrote. Another way to say it, possibly clumsy or overly simplistic, is that in every death there is some sort of rebirth, and in every birth there is also a hint of death. Of course, we know at the end of Part I that Edgar faces death very directly, more or less looks it in the face.
I liked what you pointed out about a life-for-a-life from the prologue, and how you tied it in with Claude's implicit deal with Edgar, too. I guess the way I think about this story, there are doubles and opposites everywhere. There are two Forte's. Claude and Gar are alike/unalike. Almondine and Forte are somehow equal and opposite at the same time, particularly when Edgar is in the dark, tossing raw meat to Forte while Almondine watches from the porch. Etc.
-David
