From His Pen Flows Darkness: Edgar Allen Poe For any avid reader, the very mention of the name Edgar Allen Poe brings forth an eerie and gothic feeling. As soon as the story begins, it is as if Poe immediately lets the reader know that the story they are about to read will be dark and cold, which are core ingredients that make up his style. His usage of gloomy settings, a first person viewpoint, and horrific themes play a crucial role in making Poe the most widely read author today. Two of Edgar Allen Poe’s most known novels, The Fall of the House of Usher and The Black Cat both share the same style. As previously stated, Edgar Allen Poe will more often than not, be completely upfront with the setting of story, which will give
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One theme seen in both stories is the power of the dead and their effect on the characters still alive. In The Black Cat, the narrator was of a sane mind in the beginning. Nonetheless, all of that changed the moment he became addicted to drugs and alcohol which led to the death of his cat by his own hands. Later in the story, the narrator decides to claim a cat as his own in order to please his wife. What the narrator immediately caught on to was the resemblance of the new cat to his deceased cat Pluto. The new cat had many of the same features as Pluto, even so much as having an eye missing. Slowly but surely, the cat started to have negative effects on him as slipped deeper into a hysteric mindstate. Confirming his derangement, he talks about his aspirations to rid himself of the cat by saying “At such times, although I longed to destroy it with a blow, I was yet withheld from so doing, partly by a memory of my former crime…” (522). Unfortunately, the cat reminded the narrator of Pluto too much and caused him to finally lose control of his actions by “Uplifting an axe and forgetting, in my wrath, the childish dread which had hitherto stayed in my hand, I aimed a blow at the animal” (523). His first swing of the axe was intercepted by his wife, but the next swing proved to be fatal as he plunged the axe into his wife’s skull killing her in
One theme seen in both stories is the power of the dead and their effect on the characters still alive. In The Black Cat, the narrator was of a sane mind in the beginning. Nonetheless, all of that changed the moment he became addicted to drugs and alcohol which led to the death of his cat by his own hands. Later in the story, the narrator decides to claim a cat as his own in order to please his wife. What the narrator immediately caught on to was the resemblance of the new cat to his deceased cat Pluto. The new cat had many of the same features as Pluto, even so much as having an eye missing. Slowly but surely, the cat started to have negative effects on him as slipped deeper into a hysteric mindstate. Confirming his derangement, he talks about his aspirations to rid himself of the cat by saying “At such times, although I longed to destroy it with a blow, I was yet withheld from so doing, partly by a memory of my former crime…” (522). Unfortunately, the cat reminded the narrator of Pluto too much and caused him to finally lose control of his actions by “Uplifting an axe and forgetting, in my wrath, the childish dread which had hitherto stayed in my hand, I aimed a blow at the animal” (523). His first swing of the axe was intercepted by his wife, but the next swing proved to be fatal as he plunged the axe into his wife’s skull killing her in