Literary Analysis: The Black Cat

Instability

Literary Analysis: The Black Cat

Indisputable figure of writing, Edgar Allan Poe was an American poet and writer best known for his evocative and imaginative short stories and poems. Readers all over the globe have been conscious and loved his storytelling and stories of suspense, mystery and horror. One of his most notable short stories is “The Black Cat”, who is about a death row inmate relating his story on how he mistreated his wife and his black cat, Pluto, as he descended into alcoholism and perverse violence. It is in this regard that the author used the symbolism, throughout the story, to highlight the various subject of madness, justice and truthfulness.

On one hand, the symbolism of the two black cats gives a deeper understanding of their character. In fact, the name of the first cat of the narrator is Pluto, which come from the Greek mythology. According to this, Pluto is the god of hell, he is depicted as being harsh and pitiless and unmoved by prayer or sacrifice. In addition, a black cat is known to be an omen of bad luck and being malicious. By these two pieces of information, it is portrayed that the presence of these two felins is nothing but evilness. They presence only accentuated the madness of the narrator which made him do terrible acts such as killing his wife and diving deeper into alcoholism. However, the second cat is not as bad as I stated, it was hearty. Because this cat ‘’had a large, although indefinite splotch of white, covering nearly the whole region of the breast’’ (paragraph 14). The white colour is known be pure and optimistic, it is an omen of serendipity. This white patched feline was a signal of hopefulness for the denouement of ‘’The Black Cat’’, clearly not for the narrator who will be executed by hanging the next day of his confession, but for his wife and animals with whom he was wrongful and awful with. They were avenged and could finally rest in peace.

To add, the prison is a symbolism of the antagonist surrounding. This man was already caged with his insanity and madness. It completely changed him for the worse. He “grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others.” (paragraph 6). His hatred for the world cramped his consciousness and limited his reactions. In addition, the alcohol addiction of the main figure was also imprisoning his mind. According to the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health: The usage of alcohol promotes aggressive behavior by affecting self-regulation, attention, information processing, and decision-making. He was immured and restrained by his alcoholism which caused him to hurt loving one around him. Naturally, someone would never act this way, but his insanity and his addiction to alcohol imprisoned his ‘’humanity’’, “docility” and ‘’tenderness of heart’’ (paragraph 2).

On the other hand, the fire is a symbolism of the main character of the story. This blaze depicts the destiny of this man; he cannot be saved anymore. People around him were kind and patient to him, despite his harsh and

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