Abstract Metaphors not only can be used as literal interpretation of events, but also have metaphorical meanings. A good example would be the blackcat in Edgar Allan Poe's ?The BlackCat? and how the narrator in the story implied throughout the story that the cat is of demonic creature. The blackcat in the short story not only has a literal meaning of a normal household cat but also from a metaphorical-side of meaning, as the narrator's personal demon, which haunts him throughout the story and brings him to the point of near insanity.
From the Paper "The first mention of the black cat in the short story is when the narrator's wife noticed his partiality for domestic pets and "lost no opportunity of procuring those of the most agreeable kind" (894), which includes a black cat. In the beginning, the narrator describes the cat as a "large and beautiful animal, entirely black, and sagacious to a degree" (894). When he describes the cat in this way, the narrator gave us his view of the cat as an everyday, normal household cat that people who have had an encounter with cats can feel a real connection to. Even though some people might have the superstitious belief that an entirely black cat might be a minion of the underworld or a witch in disguise which his wife did when she "made frequent allusions to the ancient popular notion" (894), the narrator tries his best to also show that this is a normal cat like any other. The narrator also gives the pet the name of Pluto, which is the name for the god of the underworld in Roman mythology. By doing this, he further connects the black cat of his to something from the underworld. He also calls what he sees when he went back to check out the ruins of his house that burned down as an apparition (895) and a "phantasm of the cat" (896). An apparition is a ghost or spirit and by following what the narrator describes, his view of the black cat goes from a normal household pet to something that haunts him for months. The loss of the cat not only brought him remorse at what he did to the cat when he hung it on a rope but also regret at the loss of a fine pet."
Abstract This paper suggests that the freedom of the mind is more important and complex than the freedom of the body as can be seen represented by "The BlackCat" where the perverseness of the free mind binds the body.
Abstract This paper takes a look at the short story written in 1843 by Edgar Allan Poe, titled "The BlackCat". The paper studies the narrator's behavior in a psychological framework in order to understand what prompted the narrator to commit a hideous crime. The paper further discusses how the narrator tries to manipulate the reader in an attempt to win his sympathy by alternating between narrative time and story time.
From the Paper "What is really interesting about the narrator is his subtle explanations of his behavior and the murder of his wife that we get from certain lines in the story without the narrator actually intending to reveal much. There is a small passage that gives away narrator's troubled psyche and his real reason for killing his wife. It occurs in the first part of the story when the narrator tells us: "From my infancy I was noted for the docility and humanity of my disposition. My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions" (850). "
Abstract This paper reviews and discusses the short story, 'The BlackCat' by Edgar Allen Poe. According to the paper, Poe is one of the masters of horror fiction and his story, 'The BlackCat', is intended both to shock as well as educate. According to the paper, the central theme of this story is that the real nature of true horror and terror does not necessarily exist outside of ourselves or in the dark night, but can exist within the human heart.
From the Paper "Throughout the story there is a comparison between two aspects of human nature. These two aspects however are seen to exist within the same human being. On the one hand we see that the main character is originally a good and kind man but that his nature changes radically for the worse. While alcohol is suggested as the catalyst for this change, the story also makes it clear that the transformation of the man for good to bad is a result of something more than just drinking. "
Abstract This paper explains that Edgar Allan Poe, who is known for his "scary" stories such as "The BlackCat", uses descriptive narrative to get the reader intensely interested in what is going on, what the characters are doing and thinking, and what the climax will be in the story. The author reviews criticisms of "The BlackCat", such as that of William Henry Smith, who 159 years ago contended that Poe's reasoning was absurd and immoral. The paper relates that today Poe is considered to be a genius. The paper continues to describe the story.
From the Paper "So, what to do with the body? He places the corpse inside a wall by removing the bricks, putting his dead wife in there, and replacing the bricks. "Having procured mortar, sand, and hair, with every possible precaution, I prepared a plaster that could not possibly be distinguished from the old." This took some careful planning, but a madman can do these things, readers are to understand after working through "A Black Cat." After burying his wife, he now seeks out the cat that has been so much of a problem to him."
From the Paper ""The Black Cat" by Edgar Allen Poe is a grotesque short story of a man's conscience. ?The Black Cat combines several themes that fascinated Poe such as reincarnation, perversity, and retribution. This story also carried an implied theme in the superstitious implications of this man's downfall. In this story Poe keeps very strongly to the theme of perversity and superstitions to illustrate the strange conditions that led to the crimes of this "happy man" especially fond of animals? (Poe 103). The theme of superstition is found to be a background motivation to the events and actions performed in the story. Towards the beginning of the story it is first mentioned to us that his wife always tells him "all black cats [are] witches in disguise" (Poe 103). The narrator also mentions that the name of the cat was Pluto. Pluto in "Greek and Roman mythology was the god of the dead and the ruler of the underworld" (Womack 5). The use of this name leads the reader to believe that the cat is somehow responsible for the death that is caused by the narrator himself. This is where the reader is first introduced to the fact that the events of this story could be caused by some superstition and not coincidence alone."
Abstract The paper reveals that many of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, although appearing reader friendly and merely stories of the macabre, have many layers of meaning. The paper discusses how decades later, literary scholars continue to debate exactly what themes and messages Poe was trying to convey. The paper examines "The BlackCat" and the elusive motives behind the murders committed.
From the Paper "The "Black Cat," is essentially a narrative by a seemingly obsessed individual who is writing a journal entry "which I am about to pen," about a homicide with various layers of understanding, "For the most wild, yet most homely narrative." However, he does not expect anyone to actually believe this story. To make things more complicated, he is expressing that the narrative will be written in alternate states of reality, madness or dream, yet of an actual event that takes place in the ordinary, everyday world. He claims his purpose is to show "a series of mere household events" and hopes that someone in the future more logical and calm than he will understand the situation that he describes "with awe nothing more than an ordinary succession of very natural causes and effects" (p.230)"
Abstract The paper is an analysis of two short stories by Edgar Allan Poe: "The BlackCat" and "The Tell-Tale Heart". More specifically, the paper discusses various psychological, religious, and literary analyses of the stories. The paper concludes that, over a century later, literary scholars are still trying to decipher the meaning of these stories.
From the Paper "Over the century, numerous literary scholars have tried to decipher "The Black Cat's narrator's state of mind and why he acts as he does. Critics have offered many varied suggestions for his behavior from vanity to trauma from childhood memories regarding effeminate qualities (Piacentino) Stark (255) notes that the protagonist's "baiting language" has encouraged a number of theories on the story's "natural causes and effects," especially with psychological examinations of the narrator and author. No sufficient clear cause for murdering the cat may be found in the text. In other words, adds Stark, by describing a murder that is impossible to sufficiently explain, Poe placed before the world existing controversies in both "scientific and religious thought and ironically upheld the mysterious nature of the human will in a time dominated by intellectual rationalism"
Abstract The paper examines two of Edgar Allen Poe's best and most moving pieces -"The BlackCat" and "The Tell-Tale Heart." The paper describes how in "The BlackCat" the narrator is a delusional man who has a pet cat and how in "The Tell-Tale Heart" Poe depicts a narrator who is not only delusional but clearly insane. The paper highlights that in both of these stories there is a common thread of delusion and paranoia. The paper concludes that although Poe wrote his work in the mid-19th century the themes are still relevant today.
From the Paper "For decades, Poe has been regarded as a leader in gothic literature. His stories (along with his poetry) are often filled with violence and hatred and because they are dark and graphic, they usually depict the narrator as twisted and distraught.
The stories of Poe usually portray a narrator laden with self-hatred and said narrator often projects his own feelings onto the audience and other characters within the story. In "The Black Cat," the narrator is a man who places all blame for his alcohol indulgence--and later murders--on intemperance and perverseness rather than on his own insanity and lack of self-control."
Abstract This paper discusses how Poe as a writer dwelt much in the madness and morbidity of man and how he enjoyed writing about loss, pain and lies, as these were the emotions with which he was most familiar. In particular, the paper looks at "The BlackCat", which tells of a man driven to murder by his unexplainable hatred for his pet blackcat. In the dark recesses of his twisted mind, he found relief in the gruesome passing of his wife with the loss of his reviled pet. The paper also looks at "The Masque of the Red Death", which tells of a plague that has purged the world and murdered everything in its path, killing without qualm and pity, not distinguishing between race, age, gender or social status.
From the Paper "In both stories, man's darkest nature was revealed. First is that selfishness runs deep in our veins. Prince Prospero paid no attention to the devastation brought by the Red Death outside his castle walls. As long as he had everything his heart desired inside, he felt safe and secured from the fate of a terrible death in the hands of an unrelenting plague. This thinking is foolish at best, for no one can escape Death. Death cannot be stopped by walls, doors or barricades. This lesson was learned the hard way by Prince Prospero and his dominions."
Abstract In this article, the writer points out that Edgar Allan Poe is known for his tales of horror and that, as good and thrilling as these tales are, Poe always seems to incorporate another literary technique to emphasize terror within the reader. The writer discusses that "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The BlackCat," are excellent examples of how Poe infuses irony with terror to enhance the terror aspect of his stories. In "The Cask of Amontillado," there is a man leading the other to his death by curious means and in "the BlackCat," one must listen to the tale of a madman completely convinced that he is not mad. The writer maintains that each tale creates a sense of heightened fear when one realizes that these stories could be about real people. The stories could survive without the irony but the irony adds another level of terror that catches and keeps our interest. In fact, the irony allows us feel the terror deeper because it is more difficult to forget these narrators. The writer concludes that this is no doubt Poe's intention - to create narrators that linger in the reader's memory long after eyes have left the last words.
From the Paper ""The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Black Cat," illustrate Edgar Allan Poe's achievement as a writer because these tales are more complicated then we think. He is not only able to craft terror stories that chill us to the bone but he is able to craft them using irony, a technique that makes his stories even more chilling. Each narrator in these stories exhibits strange behavior that causes us to pause and question not only their behavior but human behavior in general. Montresor, for his sickening brilliance and the narrator in "The Black Cat" for his complete insanity. Without the irony, these stories would still be good but they would lack that extra punch that hits us in the gut as we read what is happening. The irony of life's experiences often makes them stick in our memories a little longer and this was Poe's goal. He wanted us to remember these narrators for a long time and the way to ensure that we would is by adding a dash of irony to the already delicious recipe. We cannot forget because, like the car crash at the side of the freeway, we like to look."
Abstract The paper explores the central theme of burial and redemption in three of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories: "The BlackCat", "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Cask of Amontillado". The paper shows how the protagonist in "The BlackCat" falls prey to alcoholism, the young man in "The Tell-Tale Heart" imagines all manner of ills emanating from the evil eye of a man he loves and respects, while the aggrieved in "The Cask of Amontillado" wants vengeance for insults and differences of opinions from a haughty and obnoxious individual. The paper notes differences in the burials of the three victims and in the eventual fate of the killer. The paper maintains that one can see the burial as a metaphor for hell that reflects the darkness and evil in the hearts of the killers as they struggle with their personalities, their weaknesses and their fears.
From the Paper "Popular horror/fantasy writers such as Clive Barker and Stephen King are of the opinion that the inspiration for fear-inducing tales, novellas and novels comes from tapping into the human fear of the unknown. Indeed, for most of us, a walk through a street in the pitch dark of night where shadows seem to be jumping at us is much different than walking through the same street in broad day light. Also, any one who's experienced a visit to a cave and the tour guide switching off the lights to give visitors a sense of real darkness will realize that it is not just the darkness but complete sensory deprivation coupled with a feeling of floating."
A detailed explanation of the relationship between actor Peter Cushing and one particular film adaptation (from the 1980s) of Edgar Allen Poe's "The BlackCat."
2,236 words (approx. 8.9 pages), 9 sources, 2000, $ 69.95
From the Paper "As any well-bred and well-read horror film enthusiast can attest to, there have been at least sixteen cinematic versions of ?The Black Cat.? Of this number, a few have adhered to the true essence of Poe's tale, while the majority, as noted by Chris Steinbrunner and Otto Penzler in their Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection, ?have almost always been expanded and altered, at times beyond recognition.?"
Abstract This paper will compare two short stories that show how shame, guilt and fear, play a part in how these authors dealt with creating these tales. Edgar Allen Poe's short story "BlackCat" will be analyzed and also, Earnest Hemingway's short story " A Soldier's Home" will be the subject of this thesis. Both of these stories share similar traits on themes of guilt, shame and fear within the storylines that have been written around them and this will be proven in this paper.
Abstract This essay examines the way the narrator in Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, "The Tell-Tale Heart," and "The BlackCat," each assumes various different roles as they vacillate between victim and persecutor.
