The Black Cat
Whenever supernatural events occur, where the “very senses reject their own evidence” (p. 26, l. 3), one must ask a question: is it truly a paranormal event or am I simply being fooled? In search for the answer to this particular question a rational answer to the occurrences is often tried to be found. This is exactly what the man in the short story ‘The Black Cat’ by Edgar Allan Poe does – at least in the beginning of the story.
He tries to interpret several supernatural signs rationally. However, this sometimes results in some – although likely – very bizarre interpretations. After he hangs his cat in the garden, a fire burns down the house leaving only a single wall with the figure of a cat with a rope around its neck imprinted on it. This he interprets simply as the result of a scorched cat that has been thrown through the window to wake him up. However, as time passes, he begins to believe that powerful forces are at play. Not only does he feel that these forces affect his new cat, he also believes that they have an impact on him. He suspects that demonical forces influence him to perform the most horrific deeds. Firstly, he starts drinking, which is his own fault, he admits, but then more than the influence of alcohol causes him to tear out the cat’s eye – he is in that moment under the influence of a demon, he believes. Similarly, the spirit of perverseness causes him to hang the cat and a demonic rage causes him to kill his wife. Consequently, he feels that it is these demonic forces and the cat in particular that has consigned him to the hangman and that he is innocent.
The Term Paper on Porter Five Forces
What is Porter’s 5 Forces analysis? What are the main aspects of Porter’s 5 Forces analysis? How to write Good Porter’s 5 Forces analysis of a company? Where to find information for Porter’s 5 Forces analysis? Porter’s Five Forces Examples; Reports on Different Companies Introduction There is continuing interest in the study of the forces that impact on an ...
However, these forces that are causing him to be evil are explained by himself, which the reader should be very aware of. The story is told through a 1st person narrator, him, and the interpretation of the events is therefore very likely biased. Additionally, it should be taken into consideration that these words are written by a man on the death row – he most likely wants to be reprieved or perhaps simply remembered as something else than a coldblooded murderer. Accordingly, he tries to influence the reader although he clearly states throughout the text that it is merely his purpose to “place before the world, plainly, succinctly and without comment, a series of mere household events” (p. 26, l. 6).
He does nevertheless the exact opposite. He writes certain elements that are meant to influence the reader such as how the wife used to say that black cats in reality were witches in disguise. Whenever he has written one such element he quickly clarifies that the reason for telling this is something quite different than influencing the reader. For example, he does after talking about his wife’s comment on cats and witches explain that the reason for writing it was merely that he remembered it while writing. He does in the same manner write that the reason for him to tell about the wall with the figure of the giant cat is only to inform the reader of the events that occurred – definitely not to seek “to establish a sequence of cause and effect, between the disaster and the atrocity” (p. 29, l. 18).
Yet, this is exactly what he does.
It could be his alcohol problem, a mental illness or merely the wish to be reprieved that causes him to establish this sequence. However, the latter is the most likely. This is because he tries to justify his actions throughout the text by explaining how much he regrets them as he writes them down. He furthermore tries to create pity for him by telling how he didn’t sleep for days and how he had suffered so much at the hand of the demonic cat. That he in the beginning tries to find rational explanations for everything may similarly be to influence the reader. By doing this he shows the reader that he also had doubts in the beginning, but in the end discovered the truth – that the supernatural exists.
The Term Paper on The Black Cat Narrator Story Poe
A Glimpse Into the World of 'The Black Cat' Those who have read any of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories know that most of them are full of suspense and mystery and that they a feeling of horror and shock upon the reader. Poe studies the mind, and is conscious of the abnormalities of his narrators and he does not condone the intellectual expedient through which they strive, only too earnestly, to ...
Whether the supernatural events were created on purpose or not, a rational explanation to the supernatural events can nevertheless be found. This story can consequently be classified as a part of ‘The Uncanny’, which is one of the three different main categories of fantastic literature as defined by Todorov. Similarly, it could be argued that it is as a gothic horror story because it focuses on the frightening inexplicable aspects of the universe and because a monster disturbs the normality of the world. Having this knowledge can help set the short story in perspective and thereby gain a better understanding of it. The story of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster is, for instance, also classified as a part of “The Uncanny” and it furthermore contains some of the same elements as this particular short story. Just as the Frankenstein monster haunts its creator, Dr. Frankenstein, the black cat haunts its creator, the man. He created the monster by mutilating the cat in the first place due to his alcohol abuse. He is terrified of it, because he sees his horrific act whenever he sees the mutilated cat. It spawns a fury within him and he therefore feels that he must kill it. He, however, ends up killing his wife.
The reader must decide whether to believe that these truly are supernatural events or just the imagination of a – perhaps delusional – mind. Similarly, it is up to the reader to decide whether the murder truly is a product of the work of these demonic forces or whether he simply made the supernatural events up. This can be very difficult. However, the reader can help himself by asking one question – even if these supernatural events are true, is he not the source for all his suffering by creating the monster with his mutilation? The answer is yes. As a result the conclusion must be that it is very unlikely that these supernatural events took place and even if they did, he is not innocent.
