The Black Cat Symbolism

	In Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Black Cat," symbolism is used to show the narrator’s capacity for violence, madness, and guilt. "The Black Cat," written by Edgar Allan Poe serves as a reminder for all of us. The Capacity for violence and horror lies within each of

Edgar Allan Poe is an all-around well known American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe was most known for his poetry, short stories, and tales of horror and mystery. He was born in Boston Massachusetts on January 19, 1809 and started writing at the age of 18. In 1836 he married his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm. He had many influences, styles, accomplishments. Poe also had such a huge impact on society. Though most people see Poe’s poems and writings as dark and twisted. Overall, he has inspired many and left a positive impact on the world.

Edgar Allan Poe was an extraordinary author whose horror and mystery stories leave an impression on readers even today. In some of Poe’s works, the narrator’s thoughts and actions make the reader question the narrator’s sanity. Two good examples are Poe’s poem “The Raven” and his short story “The Black Cat”; there is plenty of evidence to support that both of the narrators are not completely sane. In Poe’s “The Raven” and “The Black Cat,” both narrators exhibit symptoms of mental illness, including hallucinations, illogical thinking, mood swings, and substance abuse.

Edgar Allen Poe’s short story The Black Cat immerses the reader into the mind of a murdering alcoholic. Poe himself suffered from alcoholism and often showed erratic behavior with violent outburst. Poe is famous for his American Gothic horror tales such as the Tell-Tale Heart and the Fall of the House of Usher. “The Black Cat is Poe’s second psychological study of domestic violence and guilt. He added a new element to aid in evoking the dark side of the narrator, and that is the supernatural world.” (Womack). Poe uses many of the American Gothic characteristics such as emotional intensity, superstition, extremes in violence, the focus on a certain object and foreshadowing lead the reader through a series of events that are horrifying

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most well-known writers in history. His life events, like losing many loved ones to sickness, greatly impacted his works such as The Raven, Annabel Lee, and many more. This mournful, gloomy life lead to the stories and poems we know today.

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most influential writers of the horror genre in American history. His horror stories have impacted numerous authors and their stories over the years. Various people have tried to copy his way of writing style, but they have failed to achieve the success he did. Even though Poe is no longer living, his impact on American literature can still be felt today.

Edgar Allen Poe continues to astonish us with a fine tale of twisted horror and alcohol-drenched debauchery in ‘The Black Cat.” In classic Poe style, the story is written in a first-person perspective giving us deep insight into the crimes and atrocities that are committed. Hidden throughout this yarn are examples of self-denial and revenge. The events, as told by the narrator, are lessons of life that should be learned at a young age. First off, the narrator refuses to take action for his crimes and his behavior.

Black cats, themselves, are usually associated with bad luck and superstition as well; this idea is even alluded to by the narrator’s wife, although the narrator claims his wife was never serious (Poe 4). Furthermore, there were specific instances that occurred that related primarily to the narrator and his mental stability, motives, and emotions. For example, the hanging of his companion, Pluto, is symbolic of the narrator’s inability to accept love as a result of his increasing irritability as well as his deteriorating stability and mental well-being.

Purgatory is a temporary stage in which a person experiences suffering as punishment. In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Black Cat” and “The Raven”, animals appear in the lives of the protagonists, revealing the bleak fates which they will have to endure; it is their own versions of purgatory. The contribution of the demonic animals the narrators encounter combined with the tolls their obsessions take on them, leads them to find themselves in a purgatory-like stage after which they will succumb to death. Despite the similarities between the two, such as the fact that they are both animals of a demonic nature, the protagonist in “The Black Cat” reacts violently and shows little sense of genuine remorse, while the protagonist in “The Raven” is devastated and mourning not only the death of Lenore, but the death of his soul. “The Black Cat” is about once loving and friendly narrator whose life takes a turn for the worse.

In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat," symbolism is used to show the narrator's capacity for violence, madness, and guilt. "The Black Cat," written by Edgar Allan Poe serves as a reminder for all of us. The Capacity for violence and horror lies within each of us, no matter how docile and humane our disposition might appear. In this story, the narrator portrays a man who is fond of animals, had a tender heart, and is happily married. Within several years of his marriage, his general temperament and character make a radical alteration for the worse. He grows moodier, more irritable, and more inconsiderate of the feelings of others. This change for the worse caused by alcohol, ends in the narrator's waiting on death row for the murder of his wife. The symbolism of the first black cat, the second black cat, and the white spot illustrate the narrator's expanding capacity for evil and perverseness.

Although now seen as the father of the modern horror story, Edgar Allan Poe was previously viewed as a drunken failure. Within Poe’s writings much of his own life riddled with guilt, anxiety, alcohol, depression and death shines through resulting in works that appear unrelated yet once dissected prove similar. This is true for Poe’s works “The Raven” and “The Black Cat”. Poe’s examples of gothic fiction share the use of the color black and a rapid digression of the narrator 's sanity while seemingly unveiling Poe’s internal pain. Despite these similarities, Poe’s works also differ immensely. “The Black Cat” focuses around death while “The Raven” is fixed around discovering the reasoning for a bird 's arrival. Moreover, gothic themes seen within “The Raven” do not necessarily remain constant when compared to “The Black Cat”.

To begin, grotesqueness is shown in Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Black Cat” to emphasize the severity of the abuse toward his “beloved” cat stating: “I grasped the poor beast by the throat and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket (Poe 2/6).” this quote represents the willingness of the narrator to purposely cause physical harm to something he supposedly “loves” and this gives the audience an emotional and physical feeling

Symbolism in the “The Black Cat” In real life people get addicted to alcohol and have trouble getting through things. They do things they don’t want to do, but do anyway. In “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allen Poe the character goes through an unusual act. Where the narrator has been drinking and he drinks all the time and it becomes an illness that controlling him.

Edgar Allan Poe uses a great deal of symbolism in his story. He often uses symbolism to illustrate his views of nature. One example of Poe using symbolism in this short story is when he talks about how every time he see’s the black cat, he feels angry and paranoid. A black cat naturally symbolizes evil and for Poe to say that when he see’s a black cat, he feels anger, this gives the reader an ideal that the black cat in Poe’s short story, also symbolizes evil. Poe uses symbolism to impact the overall tone of the story by using symbolism and imagery throughout his story.

The Black Cat, written by Edgar Allen Poe, is a short story about a man, also the narrator, who starts out by living a “happy” life with his wife and favorite black cat, Plato. Although, he begins to be consumed by his drinking and becomes irritable. The black cat used to be by his side but now avoids him. This irritability leads him into becoming overly aggressive, which results in him hurting and murdering the cat. Then, a second cat appears who looks the same as Pluto but with a white spot on his chest. Eventually, the man starts to feel anger towards the cat and attempts to murder him with an axe, but his wife stops him. Unfortunately, his wife was hit in the head. The man then decides to bury his dead wife in his basement wall. He thinks he has got away with murder, but in the end, one learns that he had accidentally buried the cat alive with his wife. The cat reveals his hiding spot when he is caught by the police. Although it seems that the main character has committed these actions solely from alcoholism, it is obvious that there are signs he is also suffering from a mental illness.