Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Edgar Allan Poe, who is known for his "scary" stories such as "The Black Cat", 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 Black Cat", 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."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Colton, George. "Poe's Tales." The American Review, 2.3 (1845): 306-09. (Reprinted inNineteenth-Century Literature Criticism Vol. 16).
• Smith, William Henry. "Tales, by Edgar Allan Poe." Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine 52.385 (1847): 582-87. (Reprinted in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, Vol. 1).

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