Repetition In Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat

Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The Black Cat” is one of the most fascinating stories among his collection of short stories. Taking readers into a murderer’s mind, Poe explores the darkest depths of the human psyche as the main character experiences bouts of random, intense murderous rage, paranoia, trickery and superstitious behavior, as well as remorse and powerful love for his beloved wife. Accordingly, the author’s work is not removed from the author himself: indeed, the story’s aspects of insanity, use of repetition in the story, detailed symbolism, and the character’s internal monologue reflect something keenly evident in Poe: his concurrent depression and lingering frustrations about his own personality, along with a distinct desire for others to recognize and understand him, are the recurring themes that flow from the author’s psyche into “The Black Cat’s” pages.
Primarily, evidence that “The Black Cat” reflects Poe’s displacement concerning lingering frustrations about his own personality is found in the black cat’s frequent appearance in the story. The black cat, to the narrator, is a source of befuddlement and anguish. Throughout the story, the narrator becomes increasingly frustrated by the cat’s very presence even though the cat does not pose him any threat whatsoever. His wife, however, loves the cat and takes it in to become a member of their household. The …show more content…
This monologue, explained through justifications to the reader about the narrator’s own actions, in essence facilitates a dialogue between the narrator’s two selves, the id and the superego. The superego suggests, for example, that the beast consigned the narrator to the hangman, rather than the narrator accepting his own negative actions as his own. The superego, then, is protecting the narrator, much like Poe protects himself mentally from pain through his alcohol