The Presence of Symbolism Throughout The Black Cat and “The Cask Of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe

In “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Scarlet Ibis” dark symbols and tones shape the plot, which allows man’s inhumanity to man, as a theme, to be expected. Both authors use imagery to allow readers to paint a picture of each setting in their mind. Also, each author adds in many symbols to make a concrete object into an abstract idea. In “The Cask of Amontillado” written by Edgar Allan Poe and “The Scarlet Ibis” written by James Hurst symbols, imagery, and the theme of man’s inhumanity to man are used to uniquely explain each story line.

that black is symbolic of evil and darkness. The first black cat was the victim of the narrator’s evil and violent heart.

The events that unfolded in Edgar Allen Poe’s, “The black Cat,” are all due to one person, the narrator. It is because of his Mental state, being an alcoholic, and being abusive to his wife and pets that the fault lies heavily on the narrator. What this paper will entail is all three of the reasons why it is the narrator's fault for what happens in the story and it will come to a conclusion based off the findings in the story.

Many authors often use symbolism to express a deeper meaning. They use the symbols to connect an unrelated thought or feeling into their literary work they are writing. Edgar Allan Poe frequently uses this literary device in his works. Symbols are many times seen in his poems and in his short stories. Many symbols are evident in Poe’s works “The Raven,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Black Cat.” Because Poe’s works are typically dark, his use of symbols is in a dark way. Although there are many types of symbols manifested in these stories, Poe’s works generally include a symbol that eludes death or the end of something and many include references of sight and vision.

Cast of Amontillado 2a- Montresor's family coat of arms and motto show the theme of revenge in the story. The family coat of arms is a foot crushing a snake that has its fangs in the foot. While the motto is Nemo Me Impune Lacessit meaning "no one provokes me with impunity." This shows that if someone messes with the family, they will pay as Fortunato did. Fortunato was dressed as a jester the night of a carnival, this is significant because jesters are often considered foolish as were his actions. He follows Montresor deep into the catacombs and becomes drunk. He trusted Montresor all too quickly only for him to end up being led to his death.

'' The Black Cat'' by Edgar Allan Poe, has several metaphors that can be identified throughout the story. Example 1: '' Upon its head, with (...) solitary eye of fire, sat the hideous beast...'' (ln. 268- 269) compares the cat’s solitary eye to fire.

‘And the motto?’ ‘Nemo me impune lacessit’” (Poe 1). Simply translated, this means “no one provokes me with impunity.” The family motto indicates that pride of family honor has been a long-standing and well-guarded trait. Montresor’s ancestry and history of pride elevates his grievance against Fortunato, and evokes an attack because he dared to belittle Montresor’s honorable name. In fact, Montresor’s pride is still so great, and his remorse so little, that he continues to gasconade about his revenge fifty years after the event. The pride of his family name forces Montresor to murder Fortunato, conclusively and irreversibly directing his decisions throughout the short story.

“The Black Cat” is an old short story written by Edgar Allan Poe an American Writer. It is a horror fiction story which demonstrate the fascinating changes that the human mind has during the abuse of alcohol. The protagonist is physiological corrupter by the abuse of alcohol and his mind play games with itself. He changes his personality as the story progresses and the way that he treats others around him. Everyone is affected by his behavior even his lovely cat. The cat becomes the object of his hate and in some way it is the first thing that he blames about his irrational acts. In the short story “The Black Cat”, Edgar Allan Poe, uses a varied forms of Irony, dramatic Irony, verbal Irony, and situation irony to produce a transformation of love threw hate along of the story.

Many would not look to a title of a piece of literature for symbolism. In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe uses the key word cask as a huge symbol. The word cask refers to, “a sturdy cylindrical container for storing liquids,” such as Amontillado, a fine wine, in this case (Lorcher). Montresor introduces the topic of the wine to his former friend Fortunato by saying, “‘My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking to-day. But I have received a pipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts’” (Poe). Fortunato is extremely intoxicated from carnival festivities prior to his conversation with Montresor, so it is probable that his decision to go into the catacombs with Montresor is not for the benefit of anyone but himself. He sees this journey with Montresor as a way to acquire one of two possible outcomes—free wine or a chance to further humiliate Montresor, especially after Montresor suggests that Fortunato is not capable of distinguishing the Amontillado and mentions the name of a rival, Luchresi (Lorcher). The symbolism in the key word of cask is that it has the same root as the word casket. Poe’s use of symbolism in this regard is often overlooked and written off as mere coincidence, yet that is far from the truth. Fortunato’s love of wine, and the ignorant and easily influenced state the wine puts him in, leads him to make some of his most destructive decisions to not only others, but also to himself. The Amontillado is a symbol of Fortunato’s downfall, or in other words, the love he has for the cask

The Black Cat is one of Poe’s most memorable stories. The story was first published in 1843, edition of The Saturday Evening Post. This like a study of the psychology of guilt, paired with other works by Poe. “Near the beginning of the tale, the narrator says he would be "mad indeed" if he should expect a reader to believe the story, implying that he has already been accused of madness” (Cleman). Poe is creating a sense of confusion for the readers and making them think more about the story before reading. The story is centered around a black cat and the idea of deterioration of a man. From his prison cell, the narrator is writing the story about his life which is falling apart. He has a love for animals, and for his wife that he married young. One of the things that he takes on as a hobby, is

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”.

“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe is one of Poe’s greatest literary works that embodies his signature themes of death, violence, and darkness. Poe’s main character begins his narration of his horrible wrongdoings regarding them as a “series of mere household events” (Poe 705). However, this is where Poe’s satire and irony begins and the story progresses to show the deranged mindset of this character as he tries to justify his actions. As the main character proceeds to rationalize his crime, Poe is able to convey a sense of irony through his use of foreshadowing, metaphors and symbolism.

Among Poe’s work, I will typically illustrate these three works “The Black Cat”, “A Tell Tales Heart” , “The Fall of the House of Usher” , and “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” to dedicate the use of symbolism. Other works will be briefly mentioned.

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 title of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat” leads the reader to believe the short story is about one black cat. However, almost in the middle of the story, a second cat emerges. Since the title suggest there is only one cat, and the narrator hints the second cat is one of the first cat’s nine lives, comparison of the cats become necessary to see if they are one and the same. For example, both cats desire to be around the narrator and both are missing an eye, but each cat has a major difference in the color of their fur.