Pet owners love their pets, but never expect them to bring misfortune to them. In Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find and Edgar Allen Poe’s Black Cat we explore common themes of death through the owners cats. Both of these cats played a huge role resulting in the fate of their owners and the loved ones surrounded by them; they brought death and misfortune to them. They also share many similarities and differences we can find throughout each story. They differ between their importance to the story and are similar in representing death. Also both felines bring out characteristics of their owners that ultimately lead to their downfall. Both cats explore a common theme of death while sharing similarities and having their differences…
"No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its avatar and its seal- the redness and the horror of blood" (1). Edgar Allan Poe was a master of the macabre; his very stories injecting fear into the hearts of his readers. Poe's life was filled with tragedy, as several of the important women in his life, including his wife and daughter died at a young age. He utilized poems and books to express that tragedy. The short stories, "The Black Cat," and, "The Masque of the Red Death," both written by Poe, enhance the theme of fear. "The Black Cat," was about a narrator who had gone crazy and was so overcome by guilt that he went to extreme measures including…
The cat is metaphor for sin. Junior has led a boring life and thinks the “wild and alien” (26) cat will make him more interesting. However, the cat ends up hurting him more than it helps him. “The carpeting -- every last strip of it -- had been torn out of the floor, leaving an expanse of dirty plywood studded with nails, and there seemed to be a hole in the plasterboard just to the left of the window.” (38) He underestimated the risk of taking in the cat, just as man underestimates the impact of sin on his life. He thinks he can minimize its destructive power by having minimal interaction…
The narrator is increasing the terror and madness by making the screams scarier. The child cries starts as a soft whimpering sound. It happens so much, escalating “howl” loud and fully mature noise; puts in an “inhuman” howl like it was a beast down in the hole with half terror and half triumph. The madness and terror increases so much that the author questions if the howls are from hell by demons.…
The black bird first enters the room via the window, and perches itself on a bust of Pallas. Black is a hue often associated with sinister ideals and metaphorical darkness. Poe often uses black in his short stories and poems to convey a hellish and sometimes supernatural and always heavy darkness. In “The Black Cat,” for example, the cat portrays evil the the narrator’s mind. The black cat stands a superstitious nightmare for the narrator, who is insane with thoughts of the cat. Similarly, the black bird represents something equally as foreboding as the cat. The bird is described as being “grim” and “ancient,” as if it had stood the tests of time and was there to plague the narrator specifically. Along with the color and general murkiness of the bird, where…
In “The Black Cat,” a man develops a volatile temper and an extreme dislike for all living things. He and his wife had many pets, but one black cat stood out from the rest. Its name was Pluto. It was the man’s favorite playmate for many years; but eventually, he began to feel deeply annoyed by all of his animals. So much so, that he neglected and abused them. But, his cat Pluto was different. It never received the mistreatment that the others did. According to the man, when his rage and intolerance grew too strong, Pluto could sense it and knew to keep its distance. One night, when the man returned home from a night of heavy drinking, “the fury of a demon” (Poe 706) possessed him. He grabbed the cat by its throat and “deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket” (Poe 706). Still unsatisfied, the man hung the cat from a tree, to be…
B. “One cat’ takes and shoves ten families out. Cat’s all over hell now…” (pg. 8, Chapter 2). This quote is an example of symbolism. The truck driver uses the animal cat to describe the people who tractor out croppers from their crops and homes. The effect of using a cat to describe someone was negative. The cat description made the reader view the person who tractors out croppers as evil, cunning and thoughtless.…
The human mind is difficult to understand as every human possesses his/her own individual thought rituals at different levels of complexities. From a psychological approach the point(s) to get across are to reveal the revelation of its author’s mind and personality. In other words, how the literature is linked with the author’s mental and emotional characteristics. Today, psychology has been introduced in most everything. Before the field of Psychology was introduced an American author, Edgar Allan Poe, was deeply aware of the complexities of the human mind and its effects on behavior. His comprehension of the human brain is embedded in short stories such as, “The Black Cat” and “The Cask of Amontillado.” Edgar Allan Poe presents protagonists…
In Poe’s story “The Black Cat” he presents the eye by having the narrator cut the eyeball out of a cat named Pluto. The cat injured the narrator which angered him thus triggering the awful punishment. The action of cutting out the eye of his beloved cat shows that the cat betrayed him and should be brutally punished. Also the narrator was under the influence of alcohol which ultimately made the narrator decisions more violent in nature. In Poe’s story “The Cask of Amontillado” he uses the eye by having the victim look into the eyes of the narrator. Poe wrote, “He turned towards me, and looked into eyes with two filmy orbs that distilled the rheum of intoxication” (par. 29). The narrator took advance of the victim by pretending to be a concerned…
The setting of "The Black Cat" creates the mood of terror and fear evident in the setting of a Gothic romance. The establishment of an emotional atmosphere of mystery and fear is very important in creating the mood of the Gothic romance. The somber, ominous setting of a Gothic romance story contributes to the formation of a mood of terror and danger by sustaining a "general air of mystery and fear" (Steeves 253). Likewise, "The Black Cat" contains an eerie setting that sustains an emotional mood of terror. One example of an eerie setting that demonstrates the mood of terror in the story is when the narrator's house burns down. The fire comes the night after the narrator is possessed by an evil impulse causing him to hang the one-eyed black cat he so dreads. Following the devastating fire only a single plaster section of a wall remains "where many persons seemed to be examining a particular portion of [the wall] with very minute and eager attention" and the narrator is filled with feelings of "wonder and [. . .] terror" as he sees the silhouette of the cat (Poe 143). The setting with the crowd of bystanders looking carefully at a mysterious silhouette on the only standing wall of the house invites the narrator's own curiosity and fear of the silhouette's likeness to the dreaded black cat. Thus, the setting of the only standing wall with the mysterious silhouette in "The Black Cat" inspires emotions such as mystery and fear that define the mood of the Gothic romance. Also, multiple threats to the stability of the narrator keep the dark mood of the Gothic romance alive in "The Black Cat." In a Gothic romance, the mood of terror is found in the "unbroken succession of threats to the narrator's peace, safety, and honor" (Steeves 252). Likewise in "The Black Cat" a series of threats to the narrator's…
The reason is because the cat is black which means bad luck. The cat’s name is Pluto and in Greek mythology Pluto is the God of the underworld. .The drinking claim is stronger than the claim of the cat. In the story Poe talks more about the narrator’s drinking, and gives more to do with the drinking than the cat. He talks about the how when he drinks he is more of a different person than when he is silber.…
The Cat is a fantasy cat that knows how to talk and how to have fun in a funny way. He represents fun in a funny way without rules, instead of the type of fun parents would expect their children to have, fun with learning a lesson. Even though the Cat in the Hat does teach a lesson it happens through fun without…
In The Black Cat, the narrator lives out on a cruel and violent existence, which he ultimately blames on a poor innocent cat. In The Black Cat, it’s a lot more than just the title of the story, there are important symbols and key points that come out in the story. The protagonist’s narration of The Black Cat exhibits delusional behavior with brief interruptions of reality where he discloses his demented behavior by stating the consequences of his atrocious actions. Despite his awareness of his criminal actions, the man still blames the cat and refuses to hold himself accountable…
The narrator's first cat's name Pluto is that of the Roman God of the underworld. Pluto contributes to a strong sense of Hell and may even symbolize the Devil himself. Onyx cats have long been connected to bad luck and misfortune. The narrator's wife even joking mentions that black cats are said to be witches in guise. From this one can assume that a horrible thing will be bestowed upon the narrator, though one might believe it will be directly from Pluto, it happens indirectly. This can be tied with mankind being sinful and tainted by the Devil, for the narrator takes the Pluto as a dear companion and ends up falling from grace and being succumb with alcohol, violence and a lack of conscience.…
The only other living thing in her home was her black cat; which for the superstitious symbolizes bad luck. Alonso describes how her…