"The Black Cat"

Paper Summary:

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 Black Cat" 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)"

Sample of Sources Used:

• Nadal, M. (2004). Variations on the Grotesque: From Poe's "The Black Cat" to Oates's "The White Cat" Mississippi Quarterly 57(3): 455-472.
• Piacentino, E. (1998). Poe's "The Black Cat' as psychobiography: Some reflectons on the narratological dynamics. Studies in Short Fiction 35(2): 153-179
• Stark, J. (2004). Motive and meaning: The mystery of the will in Poe's "The Black Cat."The Mississippi Quarterly 57 (2): 255-264

More papers on "The Black Cat":

• Analytical Essay # 36413 : "The Black Cat"
• Term Paper # 95740 : "The Black Cat"
• Book Review # 95705 : "Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat"
• Term Paper # 95700 : "'The Black Cat' by Edgar Allen Poe"

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