Abstract
Metaphors not only can be used as literal interpretation of events, but also have metaphorical meanings. A good example would be the black cat in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat" and how the narrator in the story implied throughout the story that the cat is of demonic creature. The black cat 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."

Tags:allan, black, cat, edgar, poemetaphors, hate, demon, narrator, literal, short, story

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 Black Cat" where the perverseness of the free mind binds the body.

Tags:black, cat, reliance

Abstract
This paper takes a look at the short story written in 1843 by Edgar Allan Poe, titled "The Black Cat". 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). "

Tags:cat, hideous, terror, sympathy, psyche, anger, twisted, perception

Abstract
The paper discusses how "The Black Cat" and "The Gold Bug" are allegories of journies taken by the main characters. The paper shows how "The Gold Bug" is toward fortune and psychological health, while "The Black Cat" is toward madness, violence and death.

From the Paper
"Edgar Allan Poe was a master of the literary art. His use of symbolism is quite intentional and nearly all of his stories are an allegory of some sort. "The Gold Bug" and "The Black Cat" are allegories of journeys one into fulfillment and health, the other into madness and death. The story of "The Gold Bug" is one of a treasure hunt told backwards. The reader, seeing through the eyes of the unnamed doctor, assumes he is on a..."

Tags:Edgar Allen Poe, symbolism, alchemy, nineteenth century literature, allegory

Abstract
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."

Tags:corpse, protagonist, bizarre, narrative, immoral

Abstract
This paper reviews and discusses the short story, 'The Black Cat' by Edgar Allen Poe. According to the paper, Poe is one of the masters of horror fiction and his story, 'The Black Cat', 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. "

Tags:debauchery, decadence, human, nature, violence, pets, perverted, horror, beast

Abstract
The paper is an analysis of two short stories by Edgar Allan Poe: "The Black Cat" 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"

Tags:psychological, scientific, religious, theological, context

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 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)"

Tags:understanding, meanings, themes, messages, axe, murder

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."

Tags:allen, analysis, critical, edgar, poe, themes, literature, Black Cat

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.""

Tags:cinema, film, horror, studies