The best fiction stories have the ability to engage a reader at the start while continuing the momentum with an absorbing plot and thought-provoking details. Edgar Allen Poe’s various works exemplify the meaning of horror. There are several literary elements that create a story; Poe uses these to his advantage. In “The Black Cat,” Edgar Allen Poe can convey the disturbing tone and message of his story through his use of psychotic character, writing style, and symbolism.
Characters have a set of actions to impact the story. Poe uses the narrator to describe his fall into alcoholism that leads to what would normally be considered regrettable actions. The narrator begins the story by proclaiming his sanity. Poe writes, “For the most wild yet most homely narrative which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief. Yet, mad am I not- and very surely do I not dream. …show more content…
The narration Poe created is written in a formal and urgent fashion. He says,
One morning, in cold blood, I slipped a noose about its neck … hung it because I knew that it had loved me … - hung it because I knew that in doing so I was committing a sin- a deadly sin that would so jeopardize my immortal soul as to place it- if such a thing were possible- even beyond the reach of the infinite mercy of the Most Merciful and Most Terrible God. (Poe 138)
Poe employed a variety of style tactics in this passage. He is using the repetition of phrases to explain himself; he is straightaway attempting to tell the reader why he committed such a heinous act. In one long sentence, ideas separated by hyphens, Poe can go from explanation to exposing the narrator’s thoughts. He is searching for justification and contemplating the consequences, in this case salvation, in a common thought process for someone who had just done something perceived as wrong. Poe’s writing style reflects the complicated and muddled thoughts of his characters in an urgent
Characters have a set of actions to impact the story. Poe uses the narrator to describe his fall into alcoholism that leads to what would normally be considered regrettable actions. The narrator begins the story by proclaiming his sanity. Poe writes, “For the most wild yet most homely narrative which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief. Yet, mad am I not- and very surely do I not dream. …show more content…
The narration Poe created is written in a formal and urgent fashion. He says,
One morning, in cold blood, I slipped a noose about its neck … hung it because I knew that it had loved me … - hung it because I knew that in doing so I was committing a sin- a deadly sin that would so jeopardize my immortal soul as to place it- if such a thing were possible- even beyond the reach of the infinite mercy of the Most Merciful and Most Terrible God. (Poe 138)
Poe employed a variety of style tactics in this passage. He is using the repetition of phrases to explain himself; he is straightaway attempting to tell the reader why he committed such a heinous act. In one long sentence, ideas separated by hyphens, Poe can go from explanation to exposing the narrator’s thoughts. He is searching for justification and contemplating the consequences, in this case salvation, in a common thought process for someone who had just done something perceived as wrong. Poe’s writing style reflects the complicated and muddled thoughts of his characters in an urgent