An Analysis of “The Black Cat”
In many of his short stories, such as with the “The Black Cat”, Edgar Allan Poe deals with murder, insanity and the terrible acts that humans are capable of. In “The Cask of the Amontillado” he portrays a man so engulfed in hatred and vendetta that he seals up a man in the catacombs of his home; and in the “Tell-Tale Heart” the protagonist kills a man and buries under the floor because he was driven insane by his clear eye. While all three share a similar theme, in “The Black Cat” there is an inner struggle going on in the protagonist head between good and evil. In fact, although the publication of “The Black cat” occurred at a much earlier time than Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis theory, people often associate …show more content…
Poe provides double meanings and development of the plot though his use of symbolism, such as with the cat Pluto. Pluto was a black cat, a symbol of unluckiness and evil, not to mention that the name itself derives from the Roman god of the underworld, which itself added a dismal and supernatural feel to the story. Once the narrator found the new cat he started to see similarities between him such as his missing eye, the same one that he cut out, and started to see the imprint of the noose that hung of Pluto. This suggested that the cat was the reincarnate, which ties back to the god of the Underworld, sent to punish him for his the murder. Irony is another device that he uses explicitly. In the story, he claimed to have been a benevolent animal lover, but his actions throughout the story—the alcoholism, animal abuse and the murder of his wife—prove otherwise. Another evidence of irony occurs when he stated that his wife constantly made “allusion[s] to the ancient popular notion, which regarded all black cats as witches in disguise” and that she did not take it seriously, but it was his fear and derision of the cat being evil that lead her to her death. Also, Poe utilizes irony when the narrator got sentence to hang for the murder of his wife, just like he hung his cat
In many of his short stories, such as with the “The Black Cat”, Edgar Allan Poe deals with murder, insanity and the terrible acts that humans are capable of. In “The Cask of the Amontillado” he portrays a man so engulfed in hatred and vendetta that he seals up a man in the catacombs of his home; and in the “Tell-Tale Heart” the protagonist kills a man and buries under the floor because he was driven insane by his clear eye. While all three share a similar theme, in “The Black Cat” there is an inner struggle going on in the protagonist head between good and evil. In fact, although the publication of “The Black cat” occurred at a much earlier time than Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis theory, people often associate …show more content…
Poe provides double meanings and development of the plot though his use of symbolism, such as with the cat Pluto. Pluto was a black cat, a symbol of unluckiness and evil, not to mention that the name itself derives from the Roman god of the underworld, which itself added a dismal and supernatural feel to the story. Once the narrator found the new cat he started to see similarities between him such as his missing eye, the same one that he cut out, and started to see the imprint of the noose that hung of Pluto. This suggested that the cat was the reincarnate, which ties back to the god of the Underworld, sent to punish him for his the murder. Irony is another device that he uses explicitly. In the story, he claimed to have been a benevolent animal lover, but his actions throughout the story—the alcoholism, animal abuse and the murder of his wife—prove otherwise. Another evidence of irony occurs when he stated that his wife constantly made “allusion[s] to the ancient popular notion, which regarded all black cats as witches in disguise” and that she did not take it seriously, but it was his fear and derision of the cat being evil that lead her to her death. Also, Poe utilizes irony when the narrator got sentence to hang for the murder of his wife, just like he hung his cat