Analysis of Edgar Allan Poes The Black Cat :: Poe The Black Cat Essays

Analysis of Edgar Allan Poes The Black Cat Edgar Allan Poe wrote that the single effect was the most important aspect of a gip story, which everything must contribute to this effect. Poes gothic tale The Black Cat was written trying to achieve an effect of shocking insanity. In this first individual narrative the narrator tells of his decline from sanity to madness, all because of an obsession with two (or possibly one) black cats. These ebony creatures finally drive him to take the life his married woman, whose demise he unsuccessfully tries to conceal. This short story easily achieved the effect that Poe was looking for through the use of description of setting, symbolism, plot development, diverse word choice, and detailed address development. In most cases, the setting is usually indelible to a story, but The Black Cat relies little on this element. This tale could have occurred anywhere and fag be placed in any era. This makes the setting the weakest element of The Bl ack Cat. Next, symbolism is always an integral part of any Poe story. The most obvious of typic references in this story is the cats name, Pluto. This is the Roman god of the underworld. Pluto contributes to a strong sense of hell and may even symbolize the mystify himself. Another immensely symbolic part of The Black Cat is the title itself, since onyx cats have long connoted bad luck and misfortune. The most amazing thing round the symbolism in this story or in any other of Poes is that there are probably many symbols that only Poe himself ever knew were in his writings. Furthermore, Poes plot development added much of the effect of shocking insanity to The Black Cat. To dream up such an intricate plot of perverseness, alcoholism, murders, fire, revival, and punishment is rather amazing. This story has almost any plot element you can imagine a horror story containing. Who could have guessed, at the beginning of the story, that narrator had killed his wife? The course of events in The Black Cats plot is shockingly insane by itself Moreover, the speech in The Black Cat were precisely chosen to contribute to Poes effect of shocking insanity. As the narrator pens these he creates a splendidly morbid picture of the plot. Perfectly selected, sometimes rare, and often dark, his words create just the atmosphere that he desired in the story.