Themes Found in The Black Cat, The Premature Burial, and The Cask of Amontillado

736 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Themes in the cask of amontillado

The three stories have one thing in common: they all portray the theme of horror, burial and death. In all the three stories, there is an element of burial; in The Black Cat, the man decides to bury his wife behind one of the walls of his house after accidentally killing her. His intention of burying his wife behind the wall is to prevent the police from accusing him of murder. In The Premature Burial, the narrator is afraid of being buried alive due to his condition but unfortunately, he confirms his worst fear: being buried alive. In The Cask of Amontillado, the narrator, Montresor, buries his acquaintance alive to accomplish his revenge mission.
The author uses the one-eyed black cat to bring out the theme of horror in The Black Cat. The cat seems to be the cause of most of the narrator’s predicaments; for example, the man’s house burns up immediately after killing it (Poe, The Black Cat 7). In addition, the vision of the cat is seen in the ruins of the burnt house. The one-eyed cat comes back as a ghost that is determined to reveal the evil deeds of the man. Similarly, in The Premature Burial, the vast number of victims who have suffered the fate of being buried alive depicts immense horror. At the end of the story, the narrator is horrified to find that he has been buried alive. Horror is also depicted in The Cask of Amontillado by the brutal chaining and burying of Fortunato.
The Premature Burial is a horror short story with the subject matter of being buried alive. The narrator begins by unfolding various examples of victims who suffered the fate of being buried alive (Poe, The Premature Burial 3). As the story progresses, one learns that the narrator suffers from a medical condition that makes him unconscious for long dura...

... middle of paper ...

...the hope of redeeming himself (Poe, The Black Cat 8). Several weeks later when the man goes to search for some kindling for the winter, his new pet nearly knocks him down. He raises his axe to kill the cat but his wife grabs his hand and the man ends up killing her instantly (Poe, The Black Cat 11). He buries her behind the wall and when the police come to investigate the disappearance of his wife, the man unknowingly slaps the very wall that he had entombed his wife. A sound of a cat is heard from behind the wall and when the police remove the bricks, they find his wife’s body, together with the one-eyed black cat (Poe, The Black Cat 13).

Works Cited

Poe, Edgar A. The Cask of Amontillado. Mankato, MN: Creative Education, 2008. Print.
---. The Premature Burial. Raleigh, NC: Hayes Barton Press, 1981. Print.
---. The Black Cat. London: Plain Label Books. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Comparing the Narration of The Cask of Amontillado and The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe

    1322 Words  | 3 Pages

    Edgar Allen Poe is the author of many great pieces of literature. He uses his narrators to explain situations that are going on in their life. The narrators of "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Black Cat" demonstrate their love for mans inhumanity to man and animals through horrific murders.

    Read More

  • Comparison Between “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”

    2130 Words  | 5 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe is known for some of the most horrifying stories ever written through out time. He worked with the natural world, animals, and weather to create chilling literature. Two most notable thrillers are “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”. Poe was infatuated with death, disfigurement, and dark characteristics of the world. He could mix characters, setting, theme,and mood in a way that readers are automatically drawn into reading. Both of these short stories have the same major aspects in common.

    Read More

  • Irony In Poe's The Masque Of The Red Death

    372 Words  | 1 Pages

    In “An Edgar Allan Poe Reader” several stories and poems are revealed but only a few will be considered. In the stories “The Black Cat” Poe writes irony in the story. This certain story is a first person narrative. The narrator shifts from a happy, animal loving, married man. One night the narrator gets drunk and believes that Pluto is not listening to him. So he takes the cat eyes out and hangs the cat. After the cat hanging he decides to kill the cat with an axe. But his wife would not allow it so he buried the axe in the brain. Poe says, “I withdrew my arm from her grasp and buried the axe in her brain”, (245).

    Read More

  • Imagery In The Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar Allan Poe

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    Why are Edgar Allan Poe’s works so poignant and heavy when read? Poe uses a variety of literary devices to convey what he wants to the reader, but imagery is the most impactful of them all. He allows the readers to step into his stories and permits them to feel as they have been taken into the story. Poe’s portrayal of tragedies and dark stories in his works such as “The Black Cat,” “The Masque of the Red Death,” and “The Cask of Amontillado” depends mainly on his use of one artistic tool, imagery. Each of these three stories explores tragedies or either dark, twisted characters that make some inhumane decisions for some reason or another.

    Read More

  • Little Ball of Fur: The Black Cat

    784 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Black Cat is a short story written in the first person. The narrator, a man, who never gives his name is already in prison and awaiting death from the onset of the story. He tells us the story of how he went from being a gentlemen and a loving husband to a murderer. First, he tells us about his cat, Pluto, and how he gauged one of its eyes out in an alcohol fueled rage He eventually kills his cat simply because it had loved him. In a weird twist, the narrator finds another cat that looks very much like Pluto. At first he was smitten with the cat, but slowly began to feel an immense hatred for the creature. In a fit of rage he tries killing the cat with an axe. His wife intervenes, and in turn, she is the one who receives the death blow to the head. He tries hiding his deed, but the cat ends up giving him away when the police come calling.

    Read More

  • Theme Of The Black Cat And The Cask Of Amontillado

    1029 Words  | 3 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe is one of America’s most celebrated classical authors, known for his unique dealings within the horror genre. Poe was a master at utilizing literary devices such as point of view and setting to enhance the mood and plot of his stories leading to his widespread appeal that remains intact to this day. His mastery of aforementioned devices is evident in two of his shorter works “The Black Cat” and “The Cask of Amontillado”.

    Read More

  • Edgar Allan Poes The Premature Burial

    434 Words  | 1 Pages

    The writing style of Edgar Allan Poe shows the writer to be of a dark nature. In this story, he focuses on his fascination of being buried alive. He quotes, “To be buried alive is, beyond question, the most terrific of these [ghastly] extremes which has ever fallen to the lot of mere mortality.” page 58 paragraph 3. The dark nature is reflected in this quote, showing the supernatural side of Poe which is reflected in his writing and is also a characteristic of Romanticism. Poe uses much detail, as shown in this passage, “The face assumed the usual pinched and sunken outline. The lips were of the usual marble pallor. The eyes were lusterless. There was no warmth. Pulsation had ceased. For three days the body was preserved unburied, during which it had acquired a stony rigidity.” page 59 paragraph 2. The descriptive nature of this writing paints a vivid picture that intrigues the reader to use their imagination and visualize the scene presented in the text. This use of imagery ties with aspects of Romanticism because of the nature of the descriptions Poe uses. Describing the physical features of one who seems dead is a horrifying perspective as not many people thing about the aspects of death.

    Read More

  • And Symbolism In Edgar Allen Poe's The Cask Of Amontillado

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    The plot is continually revealed with each step Fortunato takes towards his doom. In my opinion, plot is the most terrifying piece of the literary puzzle because Montresor has established a calculated and well-constructed plan that he simply will not waver from in execution. The sheer madness required of any individual to not only fabricate a plan but execute it with cold-blooded precision is mind boggling. The plot in The Cask of Amontillado transforms Montresor from a revenge seeking noble man, into a calculated, cold-blooded murderer. The setting in the story provides additional creepiness for the reader as they visualize traversing the same crypt that Fortunato must navigate. The descriptive elements outline the terrifying conditions in the crypt and ultimately provide insight into Fortunato’s final resting place. Symbolism is used with fantastic effect in The Cask of Amontillado, developing horror for the reader by outlining key story elements. The usage of plot, setting and symbolism take the reader on a journey of horrific discovery in The Cask of Amontillado. As Montresor’s plot is revealed, the reader is saturated by the setting and symbolism of the story. Many consider The Cask of Amontillado to be Poe’s finest work and I am inclined to agree that his masterful usage of literary elements, deliver a story that the reader will not soon

    Read More

  • Poe: An Analysis of His Work

    868 Words  | 2 Pages

    Another extraordinary tale by Edgar Allen Poe is, “The Black Cat”. “The Black Cat” recounts the story of an unnamed narrator with a selfless character. Loving animals, he and his wife have several pets, one of which being a black cat. The narrator and the cat grow very close and life for the narrator seems complete, until he beings drinking. Intoxicated by alcohol, the narrator becomes irritable and abusive. One day, that narrator, infur...

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Black Cat And The Cask Of Amontillado

    1229 Words  | 3 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe has a style that is dark and morbid. His tone is very gloomy and obscure. The tone of “The Cask of Amontillado” is almost tame compared to the tone of “The Black Cat”, his other work we covered. The tone of that work is almost maddening. “The Cask of Amontillado” tone is very sinister and methodic. Whereas “The Black Cat”, has a pulse to a cadence and rhythm though no clear pattern is established. Poe’s style of writing seems so personal, as a reader I had to remind myself this was fiction. His first-person style of writing is so detailed and intricate it is very easy to become invested in the world he creates. “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Black Cat” both have themes of revenge where the supposed victim is untimely

    Read More

  • Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat

    668 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Gothic Literature In The 13th Century

    560 Words  | 2 Pages

    "The Black Cat" compares to all of these using the ongoing "black, darkness" theme. In this story the gothic there death is mainly seen a lot. The man in the story one night came home intoxicated and decided to cut his cat, Pluto's, eyeballs out. This man had some serious psychological issues, another gothic element, throughout the entire book. Lastly, another element seen in this writing was murder or death when he kills his wife and Pluto suddenly goes missing. Then soon after his wife was killed the police had shown up to the home to investigate, and when they reached the basement of the home they heard Pluto inside of the wall, where his wife had been put to

    Read More

  • The Black Cat Analysis

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • Edgar Allan Poe's Obsession with Death

    690 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout Edgar Allan Poe’s life, death was a frequent visitor to those he loved around him. When Poe was only 3 years old, his loving mother died of Tuberculosis. Because Poe’s father left when he was an infant, he was now an orphan and went to live with the Allan’s. His stepmother was very affectionate towards Edgar and was a very prominent figure in his life. However, years later she also died from Tuberculosis, leaving Poe lonely and forlorn. Also, later on, when Poe was 26, he married his cousin 13-year-old Virginia, whom he adored. But, his happiness did not last long, and Virginia also died of Tuberculosis, otherwise known as the Red Death, a few years later. After Virginia’s death, Poe turned to alcohol and became isolated and reckless. Due to Edgar Allan Poe’s loss of those he cared for throughout his life, Poe’s obsession with death is evident in his works of “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Black Cat”, and “The Fall of the House of Usher”, in which in all three death is used to produce guilt.

    Read More

  • Critical Interpretations of Poe's The Black Cat

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    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. ...

    Read More

More about Themes Found in The Black Cat, The Premature Burial, and The Cask of Amontillado

Open Document