A major theme of “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe is
violence
. Once again Poe uses the device of the unreliable narrator to weave a tale of horror and violence, stemming from the narrator’s craven urge to destroy his family and pets.
What is the message in The Black Cat?
The message of ‘The Black Cat’ is
that guilt is inescapable and has far-reaching consequences
.
What is the theme of the black cat?
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.
What is the central purpose of The Black Cat?
In the opening paragraph of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Black Cat,” the narrator states that his “immediate purpose is
to place before the world … a series of mere household events
.” In other words, he wishes to explain to the world a series of events that occurred in his household.
What does the wife symbolize in The Black Cat?
The brief outline the narrator provides us of his wife suggests that
she is kind, giving, loyal, and even heroic at the end
. The narrator says she has “in a high degree, that humanity of feeling which had once been [his] distinguishing characteristic.” She is a highly sympathetic character, in her own right.
What does the wall symbolize in the black cat?
I determined to wall it up in the cellar–as the monks of the middle ages are recorded to have walled up their victims. Thus the wall that he creates is literally and symbolically
designed to conceal his guilt and act
.
What does the eye symbolize in the black cat?
The eyes can symbolize
judgment, persecution, and the action of being observed
. Eyes are often described as the window to the soul, and in this story,…
What is the plot in The Black Cat?
‘The Black Cat’ is the story of
an alcoholic who is driven insane by his addiction. He tortures and kills his cat, Pluto
. Then, a stray cat that looks almost exactly like the cat he murdered except for a gallows mark on its chest follows him home and drives him even more insane.
What are some symbols in The Black Cat?
The black cat symbolizes
the state of the narrator’s soul
-which is black, mutilated, and decaying. The black cat is symbolic because it is the cat’s meowing that draws attention to the wall, and the perverse pleasure the black soul of the narrator takes in believing he has gotten away from it.
What does Pluto symbolize in The Black Cat?
The name of the narrator’s first cat, Pluto, is also the name of the Roman god associated with
death
; he is the equivalent of the Greek god, Hades, the Lord of the Underworld. … Though the cat itself is not evil, he seems to symbolize the influence of evil that impacts the narrator and turns him into a monster.
What events does The Black Cat prove?
The superstition of the narrator’s wife in “The Black Cat” that cats are witches in disguise seems to be proved correct when
their house catches fire the night after the narrator kills Pluto by hanging him from a tree
.
In the opening paragraph of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Black Cat,” the narrator states that his “immediate purpose is
to place before the world a series of mere household events
.” In other words, he wishes to explain to the world a series of events that occurred in his household.
What does the alcohol symbolize in The Black Cat?
The black cat symbolizes
the narrator’s or Poe’s alcoholism
. Edgar Allen Poe has been accused of being an alcoholic throughout his life and it may have actually lead up to the cause of his death. The short story may give a subtle view at Poe’s fight with the disease and the disease’s eventual triumph.
What is the irony in The Black Cat?
“The Black Cat” is a tale of irony that
teaches how a person can act wickedly for no apparent reason
. The macabre story of how the narrator progresses into a weaker, evil version of himself speaks to the dark side inherent in all humans.
What does the fire symbolize in The Black Cat?
The fire that destroys the narrator’s house symbolizes
the narrator’s “almost complete moral disintegration”
. The only remainder is the impression of Pluto upon the wall, which represents his unforgivable and incorrigible sin.
How does The Black Cat end?
The story
ends when the police find the dead body of the man’s wife, with the cat on her head
. On the one hand it’s outrageous, and even funny. At the same time, when we think about just how close these details can come to our own reality, it’s sad and frightening. There is always some bizarre tragedy in the news.
