The narrator did at the beginning of the story suggested that he was not reliable, because his words were somehow self-contradictory, and he seemed to be mentally disturbed, if not tortured. He described his experience as "the most wild” and "the most homely", so he "neither expect nor solicit belief", for his "very senses reject their own evidence”, but he was pretty sure he was not mad and that he did not dream. The two adjectives he used to describe his experience are contradictory, thus putting readers at sea. Then he explained that he did not expect readers to believe his story because he himself did not believe it either. Yet he denied the possibility that his narration was unreliable by claiming that he was neither mad nor dreaming. …show more content…
For example, when he said that his wife was obsessed with an ancient tale that black cats were actually witches in disguise. He interrupted his account with an explanation for himself that he "mentions the matter at all for no better reason than that it happens, just now, to be remembered." And he once again stopped the narration of how he dug out the eye of Pluto with his comment: "I blush, I burn, I shudder, while I pen the damnable atrocity." He was in earnest hope to obtain forgiveness and "unburden his soul." Besides, he, at first, said that he soon began to dislike the second cat he brought home after Pluto's death but he "know not how or why it was." But soon he admitted that it was because of "a certain sense of shame, and the remembrance of my former deed of cruelty", and that is what prevented him from maltreating him. However, later words slipped out of his mouth that he did abuse the second cat "chiefly --let me confess it at once --by absolute dread of the beast." In his first two claims he purposefully hid his real feeling because he wanted to alleviate his guilt. He did not hurt the poor cat mainly because of his …show more content…
Although the narrator did not clearly say it, still we can find allusions in his account. When the narrator recalled his childhood, he expressed his sincere affection with animals, which are his "principle sources of pleasure." He compared "paltry friendship" and the "gossamer fidelity of mere men", which indicating that he must have gone through certain setbacks while socializing with other people. "Fidelity" is a word we often use to describe the faithfulness to one's spouse. The expression itself can raise our doubt about the fidelity of his wife, which might be the exact reason why he suddenly became a brutal beast. If we bear this doubt in mind and read through the passage in hope to find more evidence, the result can be startling. When the narrator woke up by the cry of fire and found that the entire house was blazing, he mentioned one single picture in his mind--"the curtain of his bedroom in flames." And the wall on which appeared the inauspicious and frightening black cat was "against the head of my bed." The narrator kept mentioning the ruins in his bedroom. Both the "curtain in flames" and the black cat on his wall can be symbols of the infidelity of his wife. If all the allusions mentioned before are too vague and fussy, the following sentence is more direct. "I started, hourly, from dreams of unutterable fear, to find the hot breath of the thing upon my face, and its vast weight --an incarnate Nightmare that I
The creature began to converse freely with the blind father who addressed him with kindness. However, when his two children returned, the daughter fainted and the son "dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick" forcing the creature to "quit the cottage and escape unperceived to my hovel" (115). These acts of cruelty emphasize how often humanity stereotypes individuals. Just because a creature looks monstrous does not mean his intentions match his appearance. After this heartbreaking event, the monster decides to stop seeking love and instead to seek revenge against his creator and attempt to force Victor to create a companion for him. The creature attempts to explain his cruel ways when he exclaims, "There was none among the myriads of men that existed who would pity or assist me; and should I feel kindness towards my
describes to the reader that the fire climbed and leaped on to her. Walls personified the fire in
This conveys fear because the lady is hallucinating seeing fire when there is no fire anywhere. This also connects to the idea of how there is fear and hope in fearful situations. Elie Wisel uses the motif of fire and night in his memoir “Night” to convey an underlying theme about how there can be both fear and hope in genocide and how the feelings are mutual in both situations. The motif of night can be seen on page 34 in the book “Never shall I forget that night, the first camp that turned life into one long night many times sealed.” Here the words “camps” and “Night” represent that the Jews were stuck in camps in fear.
He shows signs of being a psychotic murderer and shows obsession, but yet tries to cover the insanity up by calling it “being wise”. If he can’t come to terms with his own mental sanity then how could anything he says be considered reliable? In the beginning of the short story, the narrator argues that he is not mad because of the simple fact he is able to tell his side of the story in such a calm manner. Another example to his insanity is at the end of the story while speaking with the police officers; he was hearing the heartbeat of the old man he just murdered. As a result of hearing the pounding heart, he revealed to the officers where the body of the old man was. A sane person wouldn’t have let a deceptive sound create his downfall. In addition to the narrator’s questionable sanity, the amount of time and effort he put into planning and executing the old man’s murder without reason further confirms how unreliable he
The storyteller begins the story by stating from an early age he has had an obsession with animals. Poe states, “This peculiarity of character grew with my growth, and, in my manhood, I derived from it one of my principal sources of pleasure.” (Poe) This statement is evidence of the insanity the narrator experienced at a very young age. He goes on to explain that he and his wife have many domesticated animals, including Pluto, a large beautiful black cat. He describes the mutual fondness between him and the cat. This relationship between him and the cat, is strange. For years they have a growing friendship, until he started drinking alcohol in excess. The narrator goes on to explain how one night after getting completely intoxicated, the cat panicked and bit him. This causes the author to become angry and in a psychotic fit of rage, he takes a knife and cuts out one of the cat’s eyes. After this encounter, the cat fears him, and tries to avoid him at all cost. In the beginning, the storyteller is regretful and feels remorseful for the cruelty. But soon we see the narrator’s insanity expressed when Poe states, “But this feeling soon gave place
he had found. There is argument that he loved to torture animals, but that is unlikely because of the love of his own pets. The
As a consequence of his violent tendencies and derranged mind, the narrator ends up killing his own cat. Months later, a cat that is similar to the one he had before shows up. His fixation with the new black cat leads him into a destructive pattern of actions. As a result of his obsession, he kills his wife and bury her inside the walls of his house. For this action, he shows little to no remorse, and is sent off to be
Pluto stood in front of the Gods, still awaiting thier answer of his penalty. "Pluto, king of life the Gods banish you from Olympia and the mortal world and send you off to the underworld to live out the rest of your life in solitary and to never return." the Gods said. Pluto was dumbfounded. He thought surely that the Gods would have seen through this trickery and incarcerate his dear old friend.
He was cruel to his pets that he once loved and even carved out the eye of his most beloved pet, a black cat named Pluto. This story takes place over a few years as the narrator’s aggressiveness increases. He carved Pluto’s eye out and killed it. He then got another cat that also had a missing eye and decided to kill it too, but ended up ‘burying an ax” in his wife’s brain and putting her body in the wall of his home. The cat escaped its death and hid in the wall with the dead wife and caused the narrator to be caught. Unlike The Tell- Tale Heart, the murder was not planned.
The Creature was so innately pure when he first moved in near the De Lacey’s house that he could not possibly conceive man 's idea of doing evil. The Creature could not believe that man, as amazing as it is, could feel something as disgusting as revenge. He believed that there was no way that someone could be driven to such an extent that they would feel the need to kill someone else.
He claims that he hung the cat because it loved him, and because it did not do anything to deserve the punishment. Because of this, the sin that he committed would jeopardize his soul forever. No sane man would do this to an animal that he claimed to love. Again the narrator is not in control of his body and is being controlled by the supernatural and shows signs of mental illness.
The Creature’s original innocence and desire for love and acceptance suggest he is not inherently evil as many have concluded, but, instead, his experience of rejection and abuse from humanity ultimately drove him to revenge. “I am malicious because I am miserable” (Shelley Chapter
In the first few paragraphs of the story, the narrator makes a point of rejecting the idea that he is mad. It almost seems as if he goes out of his way to reassure readers that he is indeed sane. It was at this point that I first got an inclination that the narrator was unreliable, either because he is insane, or just lying. The average person who
The newest high-resolution eye-candy images of Pluto were released by the New Horizons mission team at a press conference today and, again, they did not disappoint. Details flow in and questions continue to mount as the formerly most-mysterious body in the solar system drops her veils. See below for images and video.
At the beginning of the story, everything seems to be going good, but then there is a turning point in the story where everything seems to turn bad. After this changes to bad there is much abuse and domestic violence in this house. As the story unfolds, the narrator becomes insane and abuses animals and kills his wife in the end. “The Black Cat “narrator admits that he is under the influence of alcohol and possibly even suffering from insanity. He once loved animals but then begins to torture them for no apparent reason. Also after the narrator kills his wife, he tries to hide the body behind a brick wall that he creates. There is irony in the fact that he also ends up trapping the cat behind the wall ("Poe, Edgar Allan (1809-1849) …”). The cat makes a loud noise and that is how the narrator is caught and arrested for the murder of his wife. The narrator’s character is the main reason why the story turns from a good to a bad