In his short story “The Black Cat,” Edgar Allan Poe uses the literary elements of foreshadowing, allusion, and symbolism in order to convey a message about the dangers of how alcoholism and mental illness can lead to domestic violence. Poe uses symbolism in his story “The Black Cat,” to convey a message about the dangers of untreated mental illness and how people need to get actual psychological help before they commit heinous crimes. In “The Black Cat,” as the cat continues to be a part of Poe’s life, he eventually resigns to hang it from a tree for the sake of knowing that it is wrong, an action that continues to drive him into insanity. Pluto, Poe’s cat represents this insanity because besides being a black cat, which are typically known …show more content…
for bringing bad luck, Pluto is also the name of the Roman god of the underworld, a place represented by evil and sin, “And a brute beast-- whose fellow I had contemptuously destroyed -- a brute beast to work out for me -- for me a man, fashioned in the image of the High God -- so much of insufferable wo! Alas! Neither by day nor by night knew I the blessing of rest anymore”(Poe 5). In this excerpt, Poe explains how the cat that he hung from a tree, due to his own obtuse sense of morality, is keeping him up at night and preventing him from thinking straight. He uses the connection to the underworld because he believes that is where he will be going after doing what evil he has done. This serves as a lesson in mental illness, because something was truly wrong in Poe’s head, he committed an unspeakable act that is driving him further insane and down a path that will not end well for him. Poe is trying to warn people that not everyone who does something terrible is a bad person, it’s possible that they need professional help, but just don’t have it or know where to get it. In “The Black Cat,” Poe uses Foreshadowing to contribute to the theme that alcohol and mental illness are two preventable problems that can lead good people to commit heinous acts such as domestic violence and murder.
In his story, Poe is telling the tale of how he ended up in a jail cell waiting to be be put to death the following day for killing his wife, but he knows that he isn’t a bad person, but rather one influenced by alcohol,” Mad indeed would i be to expect it, in a case where my very senses reject their own evidence. Yet, mad am I not -- and very surely do I not dream. But to-morrow I die, and to-day I would unburthen my soul”(Poe 1). Here Poe is telling us that he is no criminal, he was unable to think straight under the influence of alcohol, and now he has done such a despicable thing that he now must candidly tell the story in order to understand what really happened. Later, Poe hints at an act of cruelty he enacted against his cat Pluto, “But my disease grew upon me -- for what disease is like alcohol! --and at length even Pluto, who was now becoming old, and consequently somewhat peevish -- even Pluto began to experience the effects of my ill temper”(Poe 2). Here Poe is being straightforward, he uses foreshadowing to warn the reader of the greatest of his tragedies, the one he commits against his beloved cat Pluto. His addiction to alcohol drove him to abuse even his favorite pet, and the injustice he brings towards Pluto ultimately drives him mad. Poe is
trying to warn the reader of the dangers of alcohol and mental illness, because he has been led to the physical and verbal abuse of even his most beloved companion, and even more likely everyone around him. All of which could have been prevented with just a little help, and someone to stop him from drinking.
Poe carefully details the most brutal scenes of his stories, a quality shared by many of his works. Within “The Black Cat,” three situations stand to illustrate Poe’s message: when the narrator stabs out Pluto’s eye, when the narrator hangs Pluto, and when the narrator murders his wife. Before the first violent act described in the story, the narrator is known to be a drunkard who abused his wife. No matter how despicable this may be, he is still a somewhat ordinary man. Nothing majorly sets him apart from any another, relating him to the common man. However, his affinity towards alcohol, led to “the fury of a demon” (2) that came over him as he “grasped the poor beast by the throat” (2) and proceeded to “cut one of its eyes from the socket.” (2) Poe’s gruesome description of the narrator as a destructive demon, one who was awakened by alcohol, connects his behavior to the common working-class man. Alcohol is a legal drug that can be obtained by many, and when consumed in excess leads to the uncontrollable madness that ensued. The descriptions of the act plants fear into the hearts of the readers, especially those who have consumed alcohol, of ever becoming such a
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is the story of a woman spiralling into madness whilst her physician husband refuses to acknowledge that she has a "real" problem. On the other hand The Black Cat by Edgar Alan Poe is about a man who is initially fond of cats however as the plot progresses he becomes an alcoholic making him moody and violent, which lead him to torture and kills the animals and eventually also his wife. In Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Black Cat," symbolism is used to show the narrator’s capacity for violence, madness, and guilt .The recurring theme present in both these stories is that the main protagonists claim that they suffer or have been taken over by a form of madness. In this essay I shall examine the various symbolism used by the writer's to represent madness.
Analysis of the Role First Person Narration Plays in Edgar Allen Poe's Poem The Black Cat
The narrator explains himself as a loving and caring person who was fond of animals. The narrator in this story implies, “From my infancy I was noted for the docility and humanity of my disposition. My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions, I was especially fond of animals, and was indulged by my parents with a great variety of pets” (Poe 718). This is shown by the amount of animals he and his wife owned. His favorite pet was Pluto and its name symbolizes evil and misfortune. Pluto is the mythological god of the dead and ruler of the underworld. An article states, “Poe drew upon superstition about cats as sacred and as having special powers, as well as upon medieval beliefs that black cats were Satan’s favorite disguise when he roamed the earth” (Sova 1). Poe probably picked the black cat as the narrators pet because cats are very mysterious creatures and black cats have many myths of being bad luck and associated with
In "The Black Cat," the author, Edgar Allan Poe, uses a first person narrator who is portrayed as a maniac. Instead of having a loving life with his wife and pets, the narrator has a cynical attitude towards them due to his mental instability as well as the consumption of alcohol. The narrator is an alcoholic who takes out his own insecurities on his family. It can be very unfortunate and in some cases even disastrous to be mentally unstable. Things may take a turn for the worst when alcohol is involved, not only in the narrator's case, but in many other cases as well. Alcohol has numerous affects on people, some people may have positive affects while others, like the narrator in "The Black Cat," may have negative affects like causing physical and mental abuse to those he loved. The combination of the narrator's mental instability along with the consumption of alcohol caused the narrator to lose control of his mind as well as his actions leading him to the brink of insanity. Though the narrator is describing his story in hopes that the reader feels sympathy towards him, he tries to draw the attention to his abuse of alcohol to demonstrate the negative affects that it can take on your life as well as destroy it in the end.
Many authors often use symbolism to express a deeper meaning. They use the symbols to connect an unrelated thought or feeling into their literary work they are writing. Edgar Allan Poe frequently uses this literary device in his works. Symbols are many times seen in his poems and in his short stories. Many symbols are evident in Poe’s works “The Raven,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Black Cat.” Because Poe’s works are typically dark, his use of symbols is in a dark way. Although there are many types of symbols manifested in these stories, Poe’s works generally include a symbol that eludes death or the end of something and many include references of sight and vision.
Furthermore, Poe’s plot development added much of the effect of shocking insanity to “The Black Cat.” To dream up such an intricate plot of perverseness, alcoholism, murders, fire, revival, and punishment is quite amazing. This story has almost any plot element you can imagine a horror story containing. Who could have guessed, at the beginning of the story, that narrator had killed his wife? The course of events in “The Black Cat’s” plot is shockingly insane by itself! Moreover, the words in “The Black Cat” were precisely chosen to contribute to Poe’s effect of shocking insanity. As the narrator pens these he creates a splendidly morbid picture of the plot. Perfectly selected, sometimes rare, and often dark, his words create just the atmosphere that he desired in the story.
Gargano, James W. “’The Black Cat’: Perverseness Reconsidered.” Twentieth Century Interpretations of Poe’s Tales. Ed. William L. Howarth. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1971. 87-94. Print.
The narrator usually is telling the story almost like he is talking to someone, that someone being the readers. Poe sets up “Black Cat” with the narrator telling the readers he is not mad but then his story tells the exact opposite. Poe writes very Gothic style fiction in which Poe 's characters suffer from self-destruction. In the settings in “Black Cat” the narrator has already destroyed himself due to his alcoholism which he calls it a disease. As Poe uses keen detail on how the narrator goes into madness, readers see the narrator at the end as he tells that he is finally able to rest. The narrator says “It did not make its appearance during the night and thus for one night at least, since the introduction into the house, I soundly and tranquilly slept.” (700). He is able to rest because of the cat is not there to taunt him. Though he killed his wife it’s the fact that the beast, a name he calls the cat, is not there so he is able to have a great nights rest for the next 3 days. He follows up that quote with “The second and third day passes, and still my tormentor came not. Once again I breathed a freeman. The monster in terror had fled the premises forever” (700)! He has paranoia because of the cat. The cat was unlike Pluto because the cat showed him affection as later on in the years due to abuse Pluto ran away from the narrator. He finds it strange that the cat looks like Pluto, with the gouged eye and all,
The presence of the two cats in the tale allows the narrator to see himself for who he truly is. In the beginning the narrator explains that his “tenderness of heart made him the jest of his companions”. (251) He also speaks of his love for animals that has remained with him from childhood into manhood. However, Poe contradicts this description of the narrator when he seems to become annoyed with the cat that he claims to love so much. While under the influence of alcohol the narrator is “fancied that the cat avoided his presence”(250) and as a result decides to brutally attack the cat. This black cat symbolizes the cruelty received by slaves from whites. The narrator not only “deliberately cuts one of the cats eyes from the sockets” (250) but he also goes on to hang the cat. Once the narrator successfully hangs the cat the tale begins to take a very dark and gothic-like turn. The racism and guilt of the narrator continues to haunt him once he has killed the black cat. Th...
A common theme that is seen throughout many of Edgar Allan Poe’s text, is madness. Madness that will make the whole world turn upside down and around again. Madness that takes over somebody’s life. Madness and eye imagery is present in both “The Black Cat” and “The Tell Tale Heart” by Poe where madness is at first a fairy tale but then ends with a crash back to reality.Both stories share components of murder and insanity, and are very similar, not at first glance but if looked at more closely.
Edgar Allen Poe’s short story The Black Cat immerses the reader into the mind of a murdering alcoholic. Poe himself suffered from alcoholism and often showed erratic behavior with violent outburst. Poe is famous for his American Gothic horror tales such as the Tell-Tale Heart and the Fall of the House of Usher. “The Black Cat is Poe’s second psychological study of domestic violence and guilt. He added a new element to aid in evoking the dark side of the narrator, and that is the supernatural world.” (Womack). Poe uses many of the American Gothic characteristics such as emotional intensity, superstition, extremes in violence, the focus on a certain object and foreshadowing lead the reader through a series of events that are horrifying and grotesque. “The Black Cat is one of the most powerful of Poe’s stories, and the horror stops short of the wavering line of disgust” (Quinn).
for dark, mysterious, and bizarre works of fiction. His works sometimes reflected his life experiences and hardships he tried to overcome. Examples of the troubles in his life include alcoholism, having his works rejected over and over, being broke, and losing his family, even his beloved wife to tuberculosis. There is no wonder why his works are so dark and evil, they were taken from his life. A theme is defined as the major or central idea of a work. Poe’s short story, “The Black Cat”, contains six major themes that are discussed in this paper. They include the home, violence, drugs and alcohol, freedom and confinement, justice and judgement, and transformation.
The narrator cuts one eye from his first cat, Pluto in a violent alcoholic rage. He loves the cat so much, but still commits this horrible deed. The man had two cats. Then later kills the cat by hanging it from a tree, and soon after that another cat shows up at his doorstep, coincidently, it had no eye. The eyes of the cats represent the knowledge and knowing of the madness placed within the narrator. They can tell that he is manic, and sanity is not one of his qualities. He knew that killing the cats was the only way of releasing any evidence of his madness. As it states in The Black Cat, “What added, no doubt, to my hatred of the beast, was the discovery, on the morning after I brought it home, that, like Pluto, it also had been deprived of one of its eyes.” This quote shows that, like Pluto, the cat was also missing one of it’s eyes. Another symbol that Poe uses throughout this suspenseful story is the wall. The first wall that accommodated the fire symbolized that you cannot hide your problems. The second wall; the one that the man made, symbolized pride and confidence, and along with the first wall, that you cannot hide your problems. As it states in The Black Cat, “And in this calculation I was not deceived. By means of a crowbar I easily dislodged the bricks, and, having carefully deposited the body against the inner wall, I propped it in that position, while with little trouble, I re-laid the whole structure as it
One of the staples of Poe's writing is the dramatic effect it has on the reader. Poe is known for his masterful use of grotesque, and often morbid, story lines and for his self-destructive characters and their ill-fated intentions. "The Black Cat" is no different from any of his other stories, and thus a Pragmatic/Rhetorial interpretation is obviously very fitting. If Pragmatic/Rhetorical criticism focuses on the effect of a work on its audience, then "The Black Cat" serves as a model for all other horror stories. One of the most intriguing aspects Poe introduces into the story is the black cat itself. The main character initially confesses a partiality toward domestic pets, especially his cat. Most readers can identify with an animal lover, even if they themselves are not. It is not long though before the reader learns of the disease that plagues the main character - alcoholism. Again, the reader can identify with this ailment, but it is hard to imagine that alcoholism could be responsible for the heinous actions made by the main character. In a drunken rage the main character cuts out one of the cat's eyes with a pen knife, and act at which he even shudders. Then, only after the cat's slow recovery from that attack, does the man hang the cat from the limb of a tree. ...