Analyzing Edgar Allen Poe's 'The Black Cat'
The Black Cat Literally Analysis “I grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings.” In “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allen Poe, the author gets drunk one night murdering his beloved cat, thinking that the cat didn’t love him. In “The Black Cat,” the mood is changed throughout the story which in the beginning is violent but towards the end changes to guilt as revealed through the symbol in this piece which was the black cat. The mood that is revealed through out the short story changes from violent to guilty. Obviously the author did what he did because he was under assumption of alcohol so he wasn’t in his full senses. The author violently killed his cat in the very vivid description as told, “I took from my
waistcoat-pocket a pen-knife, opened it, grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket! I blush, I burn, I shudder, while I pen the damnable atrocity” (Poe 4). The description the author gave was given in the form of imagery but the author’s diction was what made the scene feel very violent and harsh. Towards the end of the short story the author feels guilty and remorseful for killing his beloved cat. The author practically tells the reader that he is guilty and remorseful “I experienced a sentiment half of horror, half of remorse, for the crime of which I had been guilty; but it was, at best, a feeble and equivocal feeling, and the soul remained untouched” (Poe 4). The author practically tells the reader what he is feeling so his is not misinterpreted. The symbol of the book is the (second) “black cat.” This symbol is presented towards the end of the book to remind the author of the misdeeds that he did to the first black cat. The way the author killed the black cat was very harsh and cruel. The cat was left with a white patch. This was kind of ironic because the second black cat had a white patch which the first cat had gotten from the hanging. The author first noticed the cat when his wife has diverted his attention towards it as said, “My wife had called my attention, more than once, to the character of the mark of white hair, of which I have spoken, and which constituted the sole visible difference between the strange beast and the one I had destroyed ”(Poe 7). The second black is basically a representation of what the author has done in his past to the first black cat. The author refused to kill the second cat due to a possibility of the guiltiness he has felt. “The Black Cat” is a short story which is about the author who has had this black cat for many years but due to his addiction of alcohol; and not being in his senses he kills his cat. The author is once again reminded of his horrible misdeed by finding another black cat with a white patch which represented the hanging of the first black cat. The mood was transitional because towards the beginning he was violent but towards the end he was feeling remorseful and guilty.
Bibliography
Poe, Edgar A. "The Black Cat." The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe. Web.
"The Black Cat." by Edgar Allan Poe. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. .
"The Black Cat Violence Quotes Page 1." Shmoop. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. .
waistcoat-pocket a pen-knife, opened it, grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket! I blush, I burn, I shudder, while I pen the damnable atrocity” (Poe 4). The description the author gave was given in the form of imagery but the author’s diction was what made the scene feel very violent and harsh. Towards the end of the short story the author feels guilty and remorseful for killing his beloved cat. The author practically tells the reader that he is guilty and remorseful “I experienced a sentiment half of horror, half of remorse, for the crime of which I had been guilty; but it was, at best, a feeble and equivocal feeling, and the soul remained untouched” (Poe 4). The author practically tells the reader what he is feeling so his is not misinterpreted. The symbol of the book is the (second) “black cat.” This symbol is presented towards the end of the book to remind the author of the misdeeds that he did to the first black cat. The way the author killed the black cat was very harsh and cruel. The cat was left with a white patch. This was kind of ironic because the second black cat had a white patch which the first cat had gotten from the hanging. The author first noticed the cat when his wife has diverted his attention towards it as said, “My wife had called my attention, more than once, to the character of the mark of white hair, of which I have spoken, and which constituted the sole visible difference between the strange beast and the one I had destroyed ”(Poe 7). The second black is basically a representation of what the author has done in his past to the first black cat. The author refused to kill the second cat due to a possibility of the guiltiness he has felt. “The Black Cat” is a short story which is about the author who has had this black cat for many years but due to his addiction of alcohol; and not being in his senses he kills his cat. The author is once again reminded of his horrible misdeed by finding another black cat with a white patch which represented the hanging of the first black cat. The mood was transitional because towards the beginning he was violent but towards the end he was feeling remorseful and guilty.
Bibliography
Poe, Edgar A. "The Black Cat." The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe. Web.
"The Black Cat." by Edgar Allan Poe. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. .
"The Black Cat Violence Quotes Page 1." Shmoop. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. .