Now it's high time for me to put all the parts of jigsaw together and present the complete analysis of the story "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe.
The story I've chosen is written by Edgar Allan Poe whose works are well-known among those people who appreciate everything which is in a way gothic, mysterious and unexplained. The title of the chosen story is "The Black Cat". Judging by the title, one may give a lot of predictions, because the title itself is quite symbolic. Everybody knows that a black cat usually symbolises misfortunes or evil power.
I knew that stories written by Edgar Allan Poe were of gloomy atmosphere, but I didn’t expect that this one would influence me that deeply though my considerations about the plot turned out to be quite right.
In fact, “The Black Cat” can awake the feeling of, so to say, discomfort in an inexperienced reader, because it is not an easy story to perceive and comprehend. For many people who are mentally healthy it may seem to be the delirium of a madman. However, it’s not a mistaken idea, I might say, because the narrator (who is also the main character) creates an impression of a person whose actions sometimes lack motives, logics and, generally, common sense. He is driven by the “logics” of an alcoholic and it’s vividly presented throughout the story.
Now I’d like to say about the things I like in the story. Several crucial points may be distinguished here:
1. The atmosphere is created in the best traditions of gothic style (which I adore).
2. The ending of the story is clear, but still many things remain between the lines or even “behind the scenes”. The remaining mystery gives food for thoughts.
3. The absence of judgments what is good or bad is also the thing I like. So, the author shows but does not impose his conclusions on a reader. It makes the narrative more objective.
As for the "drawbacks" of the story, they are the following:
- The usage of ornate vocabulary and constructions makes a reader consult the dictionary for almost every word. Though, on the other hand, this very peculiarity also creates a specific charm so that Poe’s style is felt in each sentence.
- The story contains the description of cruelty towards animals (a cat in this case) and the scene of murder. But if they were omitted the story would lose a lot of its singularity.
The distinguished pros and cons are totally subjective, contradictive and do not lay claim to be an absolute truth.
On the whole, I don’t regret my choice and think that “The Black Cat” is worth analyzing, because there are a lot of things which suggest discussions.
Now I'd like to say a few words about the author and his style of writing. Edgar Allan Poe is an American author, referred to the American Romantic Movement and generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. Among his best-known works are: poems “The Raven” and “The Bells”, and short stories “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”. Poe’s way of writing demonstrates stylistic brilliance in the form of varying vocabulary, remarkable repetition, and instrumental imagery. Imagery in Poe’s writing clearly involves readers in the story, and his use of repetition and complex vocabulary ensures that readers understand his themes and implications. By including repetition in his works, Poe places emphasis on certain concepts, informing readers that they are vital to the story’s development. Complex vocabulary serves a similar purpose, highlighting certain themes and requiring that readers devote their attention to them. The inclusion of unique vocabulary also challenges readers to deliberate, instead of simply reading for pleasure.
The next point which I'm going to dwell on is the setting. The first thing I want to mention is that the narrator is much more interested in telling his story without giving details about the time and place of action. In such a way, a reader can make some generalizations that this story could happen anywhere with family couples when one member is an alcoholic.
But still a reader gets to know that the narrator is kept in the jail and writes his last words before the death penalty. As it has been mentioned, he doesn’t give a description of his house though a reader comes across the repeated scenes concerning walls. The only wall remains after a fire in the house of the narrator with a figure of a gigantic cat on it. This event foreshadows the following one when another black cat is buried alive in the other house of the narrator. In the second case the story-teller builds a wall himself in order to hide his terrible crime. To my mind, it’s like a bitter irony in which the black cat acts like an avenger…
Sometimes we build walls in order to feel safety but they usually separate us from the reality and may turn us into escapists. The main character tries to escape, but the reality gives him punishment which he deserves…
Now let's get down to the plot and its peculiarities. In my opinion, the structure of the story is revealed through the following elements which define the peculiarities of the plot:
Initial situation. The reader meets the narrator and gets to know that he is waiting for death penalty because of some reasons and events which have influenced the story-teller greatly.
Exposition. The narrator tells the story of his chilldhood and describes himself being kind and always cheerful, but the situation changed when he became addicted to alcohol and cruel towars animals his wife and he kept.
Complication. The main character kills his once beloved cat, Pluto, by hanging him up on the tree in his garden.
Climax. The fire destroys the house of the narrator at night. His wife, a servant and he manage to escape but now the family is in poverty and they have to change residence.
Suspence. Another cat appears in the story who is like a living copy of Pluto. The narrator brings him home but gradually the cat gets on his nerves (which are alredy shattered by alcohol).
Denoument. The main character decides to kill the cat but his wife tries to protect the poor animal. She manages to do that but the axe is turned on her. The narrator walls up the dead body and feels happy abou the fact the cat left his home.
Conclusion. Policemen find the body due to the cat whose cry they hear behind the bricks. Thus it turns out that the cat has been walled up too.
So, there are 7 elements in the plot structure of the story.
There are not many characters in the story that's why it is possible to mention all of them:
The Narrator, a prisoner scheduled for execution. His loathing of a cat he once loved leads to his commission of a capital crime.
The Narrator's Wife, a woman of agreeable disposition who likes animals and obtains many pets for her husband.
First Black Cat (Pluto), a cat named Pluto that loves the narrator but irritates him when it follows him everywhere.
Second Black Cat, a cat that resembles the first black cat and may be a reincarnation of the latter–or so the narrator may think.
Policemen, officers who investigate the happenings at the home of the narrator.
Servant, a person working in the narrator's household.
As for the narrator, his character is revealed through his speech (1st person narrative) and actions (his behavior) throughout the story. The reader comes to the conclusion that inner world of this man is completely ruined by alcohol and no kindness has remained in his soul. The narrator consider all the events happed to him to be just a twist of fate and he sees no fault of his own. He belives that the cat is the reason of his misfortune.
As for the cat, I would like to dwell upon two of them at a time because I consider the second one to be the reincarnation of the first one. So, I perceive these two characters as one. The black cat is even more a symbol than a character. Usually, people treat black cats as omens of something not very pleasant, but in this story the black cat is the symbol of justice - a power which punishes the one whose life is far from being virtuous.
These characters (the narrator and the black cat) are interrelated in terms of confrontation. All in all, the cat becomes a winner while the narrator's life is almost over.
In order to portray the characters, to describe the setting, to reveal the idea or to render the general mood of the story vividly and convincingly the author of the analysed text resorts to the following devices:
Periphrasis. The words “latter”, “playmate”, “animal”, “creature”, “beast” are employed instead of the word “cat” in order to underline the narrator’s changing attitude towards his pet. “The Fiend Intemperance” is used here to disclose that narrator could not resist temptation to drink, his constant addiction.
Euphemism. "to use intemperate language to my wife" is used be the narrator in order to make his own fault seem softer.
Simile. “All black cats as witches in disguise” is used to intensify the mysterious effect of the whole story. “Disease is like Alcohol” is employed for the purpose to characterize the reason of the narrator’s cruel deeds also it underlines that alcohol enslaves human mind and absorbs his soul.
Metaphor. “I … drowned in wine all memory of the deed” which also clearly shows the narrator’s partiality to Alcohol.
Epithet. "Wild narrative", "equivocal feeling", "cruel deed", "hideous murder" and many other are used to create the gothic atmosphere of the story. They make the narration expressive but subjective because the reader perceives everything through the eyes of the narrator.
Personification. "In speaking of his intelligence, my wife, who at heart was not a little tinctured with superstition, made frequent allusion to the ancient popular notion..." Pluto is characterized as a human whose mind is developed.
Allusion. The name of the black cat is the allusion itself - it refers to Ancient Roman mythology where Pluto is the god of the underworld. In such a way the reader treats the cat as the mysterious creature and it's not a surprise when Pluto "comes back" in order to take his revenge.
Irony. "And now was I indeed wretched beyond the wretchedness of mere Humanity. And a brute beast - whose fellow I had contemptuously destroyed - a brute beast to work out for me - for me a man, fashioned in the image of the High God - so much of insufferable wo! Alas! neither by day nor by night knew I the blessing of Rest any more!" Actually it is the case of convergency when many stylistic devices are used in the short context (inversion, repetion, periphrasis, graphons, etc) but I consider them to serve the only purpose - they create ironical situation. The narrator vividly depicts his sufferings but he doesn't meet reader's compassion but vice versa - the reader begins to despise him even more.
Repetition. “Half of horror, half of remorse” shows that the narrator feels either regret or fear.
Gradation. “More moody, more irritable, more regardless”, “I blush – I burn – I shudder”, “a cry, at first muffled and broken, like the sobbing of a child, and then quickly swelling into one long, loud, and continuous scream, utterly anomalous and inhuman - a howl - a wailing shriek”, “have terrified - have tortured - have destroyed me” which strengthen all that incandescence of the situation.
As we can see, the story is full of stylistic devices which can be found almost in every sentence. But all of them are used mostly in order to depict the situation vividly, to create the special imagery and the atmosphere of the gothic story.
To sum up everything which I've managed to mention, I want still to concentrate on the story itself - its moral and ideas. Poe constructed this story in such a way that the events of the tale remain somewhat ambiguous, but still the reader may figure out author's messages - "The Evil is always punished" and "A person must always remain human". I like the story because it's not just a depiction of something terrible and mysterious (though I like the mystery as well) but it contains the points which appeal to me. By means of gothic style Poe implies the eternal moral of humanism which is no less important nowadays. I see this story from such an angle but at the same time I think it to be the question of never-ending interpretations and everyone may find something which is common to himself. Read Edgar Allan Poe with pleasure as I do it! Find your solutions or even revelations!
THE END
