Edger Allen Poe’s “The Black Cat”

Edger Allen Poe’s “The Black Cat”

                          

Biography of the writer-

Born January 19, 1809, Boston, Massachusetts, U. S. American short story writer, poet, critic, and editor Edger Allan Poe’s tales of mystery and horror initiated the modern detective story, and the atmosphere is his tales of horror is unrivaled in American fiction. His “The Raven” (1845) numbers among the best-known poems in national literature.

Synopses:

The narrator from his childhood love animals, especially pet animals. So, he kept animals and passing his time, and at a young age he marries a woman who also loves pets. In their household they have a number of animals, including a large and beautiful black cat named PLUTO. Pluto is his favorite animal. But his wife doesn’t like Pluto because she often refers to the superstition that black cats are actually disguised witches.

As time passes he loses his interest in Pluto. The narrator becomes moody and irritable due to alcoholism and abusing his wife as well as his cat. One day, he comes home drunk and imagining that Pluto is avoiding him. In response, the narrator loses control and cuts one of Pluto’s eyes out with a pen-knife. Moreover he hate Pluto because of Pluto's one eye and he kill Pluto by hanging the cat from a tree.

Afterward, the next day his house completely burned out accept one wall. It makes narrator doubt. As time passes one day he seemed one cat who is look like Pluto and because he wants to replaced the regration, the narrator take that cat at his home.

Everyday this cat follows the narrator, this thing completely disliked by the narrator. Out of this dislike he tries to killed that cat but instead of that his wife killed by him.

Realizing that he cannot remove the body from the house, he plasters the body into cellar. Few days after police came for investigation. At the first time they couldn’t found anything but something latter narrator realizes some voice came from the cellar. Out of the frustration he speaks everything in front of police and check out everything. With his wife he found that cat also into the cellar. The narrator realizes, to his horror, that he must have trapped the cat behind the wall along with his wife.

Critical Analysis:

The characters of Edger Allan Poe also can be read psychologically, because all the characters especially the heroes who are unnamed narrator are mentally disordered. The hero of the Black Cat also can be read in same context.

The narrator brought up with pet animals so but obvious that he hasn’t any company of human being. Second thing is that because of the pet animals he couldn’t shares his emotions and feelings or expressions. So, the jar is fulfilled with frustration. Killing the cat brutally is maybe the result of frustration.

Next is that, he got human companion in a form of his wife at the very early stage. So, he got responsibilities at the very early stage in his life. The frustration or mental disorder came in a result of the tragic end of hero or in a way the tragic end of the story “The Black Cat”. The short story “The Tell-tale heart” highly resemble with the short story “The Black Cat”.