Hello Reader!!
I am writing this blog as part of academic study the short story by famous American writer, editor and literary critic Edgar Allan Poe's famous mysterious story "The Black Cat".
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
-Edgar Allan Poe
Introduction:-
"The Black Cat," one of Edgar Allan Poe's most memorable stories, is a classic example of the gothic literature genre that debuted in the Saturday Evening Post on August 19, 1843. Written in the form of a first-person narrative, Poe employed multiple themes of insanity, superstition, and alcoholism to impart a palpable sense of horror and foreboding to this tale, while at the same time, deftly advancing his plot and building his characters. It's no surprise that "The Black Cat" is often linked with "The Tell-Tale Heart," since both of Poe's stories share several disturbing plot devices including murder and damning messages from the grave—real or imagined.
About Author:-
Edgar Allan Poe, (born Jan. 19, 1809, Boston, Mass., U.S.—died Oct. 7, 1849, Baltimore, Md.), U.S. poet, critic, and short-story writer. Poe was raised by foster parents in Richmond, Va., following his mother’s death in 1811. He briefly attended the University of Virginia and then returned to Boston, where in 1827 he published a pamphlet of youthful, Byronic poems. By 1835 he was in Richmond as editor of the Southern Literary Messenger, the first of several periodicals he was to edit or write for. There he married a 13-year-old cousin, who died in 1847. At various times he lived in Baltimore, New York, and Philadelphia. Alcohol, the bane of his irregular and eccentric life, caused his death at age 40. His works are famous for his cultivation of mystery and the macabre. Among his tales are “Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Masque of the Red Death,” “The Black Cat,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Pit and the Pendulum.” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Purloined Letter” initiated the modern detective story. His poems (less highly regarded now than formerly) are musical and sensuous, as in “The Bells,” a showcase of sound effects; they include touching lyrics inspired by women (e.g., “Annabel Lee”) and the uncanny (e.g., “The Raven”).
Characters of the short story:-
Unnamed Narrator:-
The narrator is another of Poe’s unnamed and unreliable men driven to madness. All we really know about him—if his word can be trusted, that is—is that he has enjoyed a lifetime love of animals and that the animals have reciprocated this love. The narrator does make clear what it is about animals that inspires in him a higher level of love and respect: he particularly admires their loyalty and perception. In other words, if an animal remains loyal to you, you must be a good person—which should bring into question the character of any person whose pet begins to exhibit disloyal behavior.
The Narrator's Wife:-
Not much information is provided about the narrator’s wife other than that she shares his love of animals. We do learn that she might be more superstitious than he is since she is fond of mentioning the belief that cats and witches are inextricably linked. Of course, this information arrives courtesy of a narrator that is not entirely trustworthy, and even he is careful to assert that just because she mentions this superstition, doesn’t necessarily mean she believes it. Ultimately, it is the narrator that seems to possess a deeper belief in supernatural explanations. One thing is for certain: the wife is willing to intrude on behalf of animals when in danger, even if that danger is her husband.
Pluto:-
Pluto is the black cat that joins the goldfish, rabbit, dog, birds, and monkey in the menagerie of pets that the narrator and his wife invite into their home. The close bond between cat and owner (i.e. the narrator) even manages to initially shield the cat from the abusive effects of the owner—effects that were already affecting the man's relationship with his other pets and his wife. The passage of time and the rise of addiction tolerance eventually takes their toll, however, resulting in Pluto first losing an eye at the narrator’s hand before losing his life at the end of a noose.
The Second Black Cat:-
Following rather quickly upon the death of Pluto and an unexplained fire that destroys the narrator’s home, a second black cat enters the narrative. This cat remains nameless, like the narrator. It is almost identical to Pluto, right down to having only one eye, but it has one distinguishing difference: a patch of white fur covering almost its entire breast. The lack of an actual name indicates the emotionless connection between it and the narrator that claims to be such an animal lover: despite a seemingly strong desire by the cat for them to become best friends, the narrator is utterly repulsed by the cat, to the eventual point of attempted murder.
The Police:-
The police arrive to investigate the disappearance of the narrator's wife. They catalyze the mad narrator's hubris, which leads him to inadvertently give away the murder he has continued.
Plots overview of The Black Cat:-
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author of the 19th century, famous for his work in the mystery genre. “The Black Cat” is one of his mystery short stories, written in 1843. It is a story about a frightened man who is also the narrator of the story. He is a loving person and His family owns a cat, a black one. Its name is Pluto and it becomes a good friend of the narrator. Even if people around him said that black cat is evil, Pluto is his favourite. Then Slowly the narrator‟s attitude is changed by alcohol. He becomes more emotional than before; He sometimes hits his wife; he even hits Pluto. One night, he comes back home drunk and Pluto bites him. He is so blinded by the drink he cuts one of the animal‟s eyes. Since then Pluto does not come near him again and it makes him sad, and then angry. The next thing he does is hang Pluto by its neck on a tree until it is dead. That night his house is on fire and he is lucky to be able to escape from the building. The next morning, in the remains of the building, there is a new plaster of wall standing in the centre of the ruins and on its surface There is a black shape similar to a cat. It is not supposed to be there since he hung the cat in the tree in the garden.
Months later, he misses Pluto and tries to find a new one similar to it. One night he finds a cat very similar to Pluto; this cat was suddenly showed up out of nowhere, except for the white hair on the front of its body. It comes home with him and it becomes a very good friend to his wife. The next morning he realised that this cat also lost one of his eyes like Pluto. Soon enough, he hates the animal, and keeps away from it so as not to hurt it like he did with Pluto. The cat follows the narrator everywhere and he wants to kill him but he is too afraid to do that. Slowly, the shape of the white hair on the cat‟s front body changes into the shape of gallows. The narrator becomes more and more uneasy about this cat; he has a terrible dream and finds the cat sitting next to his face and pressing down on his heart. He is now a very bad man who only has evil thoughts and hates everyone. One day, on his way to cut a log, the cat almost trips him; he suddenly wants to kill it but his wife stops him. He is very angry at his wife so he hit his wife‟s head with the axe. However, he has to bury her body but he is afraid his neighbours will find it. So he buries her in the new plaster of the wall. When he finishes he realises that the cat is not there anymore. For some time, he feels calm. On the fourth day, a group of police come to his house; he brags about his strong new wall and knocks on it. A voice, like a child‟s cry, replies to the knock and it is followed by a long scream. The Police hurry to break down the wall. When the wall is opened, there is a cat screaming, standing on his wife‟s head. Its evil voice sends the narrator to his death.
Setting:-
''The Black Cat'' is set in an ambiguous time period implied to be approximately contemporary with when the story was written. It takes place over the course of a few months. ''The Black Cat'' setting starts in the protagonist's jail cell where he is awaiting his execution the following day. He then takes the readers on a journey back to his old house. The first part of the story, where Pluto features, is set primarily in the narrator's house. When that house burns down, he and his wife find a new place to live. The second part of the story, set a few months after the fire, takes place in the narrator's new house. These events take several years but the narrator recounts all incidents in only one day.
Symbols:-
Symbols are a key component of Poe's dark tale, particularly the following ones.
The black cat:
More than just the title character, the black cat is also an important symbol. Like the bad omen of legend, the narrator believes Pluto and his successor have led him down the path toward insanity and immorality.
Alcohol:
While the narrator begins to view the black cat as an outward manifestation of everything the narrator views as evil and unholy, blaming the animal for all his woes, it is his addiction to drinking, more than anything else, that seems to be the true reason for the narrator's mental decline.
House and home:
"Home sweet home" is supposed to be a place of safety and security, however, in this story, it becomes a dark and tragic place of madness and murder. The narrator kills his favorite pet, tries to kill its replacement, and goes on to kill his own wife. Even the relationships that should have been the central focus of his healthy and happy home fall victim to his deteriorating mental state.
Prison:
When the story opens, the narrator is physically in prison, however, his mind was already imprisoned by the shackles of madness, paranoia, and alcohol-induced delusions long before he was apprehended for his crimes.
The wife:
The wife could have been a grounding force in the narrator's life. He describes her as having "that humanity of feeling." Rather than saving him, or at least escaping with her own life, she becomes a horrible example of innocence betrayed. Loyal, faithful, and kind, she never leaves her husband no matter how low he sinks into the depths of depravity. Instead, it is he who is in a sense unfaithful to his marriage vows. His mistress, however, is not another woman, but rather his obsession with drinking and the inner demons his drinking unleashes as symbolically personified by the black cat. He forsakes the woman he loves—and eventually kills her because he can't break the hold of his destructive obsession.
Major Themes:-
Love and hate are two key themes in the story. The narrator at first loves his pets and his wife, but as madness takes hold of him, he comes to loathe or dismiss everything that should be of the utmost importance to him. Other major themes include:
Justice and Truth:-
The narrator tries to hide the truth by walling up his wife's body but the voice of the black cat helps bring him to justice.
Superstition:-
The black cat is an omen of bad luck, a theme that runs throughout literature.
Murder and Death:-
Death is the central focus of the entire story. The question is what causes the narrator to become a killer.
Illusion versus Reality:-
Does the alcohol release the narrator's inner demons, or is it merely an excuse for his horrendous acts of violence? Is the black cat merely a cat, or something embued with a greater power to bring about justice or exact revenge?
Loyalty Perverted:-
A pet is often seen as a loyal and faithful partner in life but the escalating hallucinations the narrator experiences propel him into murderous rages, first with Pluto and then with the cat the replaces him. The pets he once held in highest affection become the thing he most loathes. As the man's sanity unravels, his wife, whom he also purports to love, becomes someone who merely inhabits his home rather than shares his life. She ceases to be a real person, and when she does, she is expendable. When she dies, rather than feel the horror of killing someone he cares for, the man's first response is to hide the evidence of his crime.
Man’s Descent into Insanity:-
In "The Black Cat," the narrator was aware that his thoughts and actions were transforming into a downward spiral. He was aware of his increased irritability, his disregard of the feelings of others, and the unreasonable violent actions he carried out towards his wife. He was even aware that his favorite pet and playmate, Pluto, was falling victim to the ill-effects brought by alcoholism onto the narrator. However, for reasons that remain inscrutable to the reader, he continues his descent into moral degeneration. Is he affected with "perverseness"? Is it a result of the alcohol? Does he not know what he is doing?
The ill-effects of Alcoholism:-
In this story, the narrator describes to the readers the effects of the “Fiend Intemperance." It was due to the increased intake of alcohol that the narrator experienced a radical alteration for the worse. He became more irritable, cared little for the feelings of others, and often used intemperate language with his wife—not to mention the violent acts he committed towards her. He abused the rabbits, the dogs, the monkey, and even his favorite pet, Pluto. We do not know why he was driven to drink, and being drunk did not explain all of his evil deeds—but alcohol certainly exacerbated his behavior and helped him stray further from a unified self.
Supernatural Beliefs:-
The theme of supernatural elements pervades this story. The title itself suggests supernatural elements, for there are various superstitions regarding the bad luck that a black cat allegedly brings. In this story, the narrator kills his pet—Pluto, a black cat—by hanging him from a tree branch. After the murder of the black cat, bad luck followed the narrator. His house burned down, only one wall remained, and that wall had an impression of the black cat with a rope about the animal’s neck. A few days later, another black cat appeared in front of the narrator. This cat looked exactly like Pluto except it had a patch of white fur at the bosom, which later represented the "gallows." The events that followed the hanging of Pluto can be attributed to supernatural explanations, for it is a common belief that a black cat brings bad luck.
Guilt:-
The narrator's guilt is what brought the black cat back to haunt him. The cat represents his guilt: as the narrator became more guilty, the cat became more realistic. For example, the only time the cat was heard was when the police were searching the narrator's house, at which point his guilt and fear finally pushed him into full madness. The narrative shows that guilt is a key factor in man's descent into madness—yet also a vital part of what keeps us human.
The Divided Self:-
The narrator experiences a fragmented, divided self. This is apparent not only in the dichotomy between the man telling the tale and the man committing the acts in the tale, but also in terms of nearly all of his actions once his "perverseness" set in. He vacillated between sanity and insanity, between fear and horror of the cat and the impulse to act. He had nightmares, drunken stupors, and paroxysms of rage and despair. He killed his cat and then desired another one; he felt poorly for his long-suffering wife but murdered her without a thought. The only bliss and peace he had were when he completely lost himself after killing his wife and walling up the cat in the tomb.
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Work Citation:-
Barzun, Jacques , Cestre, Charles and Mabbott, Thomas Ollive. "Edgar Allan Poe". Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Nov. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edgar-Allan-Poe. Accessed 20 December 2023.
Lombardi, Esther. ""The Black Cat" Study Guide." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/the-black-cat-themes-and-symbols-738847.
Osborne-Bartucca, Kristen. Suduiko, Aaron ed. "The Black Cat Themes". GradeSaver, 12 March 2019 Web. 20 December 2023.https://www.gradesaver.com/the-black-cat/study-guide/themes
Poe, Edgar Allan, and Jose Menendez. Elegant Ebooks . 1843, www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Poe/Black_Cat.pdf.
