The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe is a disturbing short story that explores the deterioration of man. The psychological elements draw parallels to The Tell-Tale Heart novella. This is a colour-coded summary that explores the themes of the short story, with some examples.
Tatum Thomas Short Story Summary_ The Black Cat_ 2021
“The black cat” by edgar allan poe
1845
What can we say about this story? (What feelings does it evoke?
What ideas does it provoke?)
Protagonist=Narrator: What is his aim?
1 first-person narrator To convince us , or perhaps himself, that he is sane and
Nameless man clever.
Convince us that the events are unexplainable
Or that the events are from an external force, out of his
control, blaming external factors, plays the victim.
Fate vs Personal Responsibility
Eg. “and then came...the spirit of perverseness”
Eg. “my next step was to look for the beast which had
been the cause of so much wretchedness”
He does not take responsibility for his actions
Protagonist is trying to convince himself that he is still a
good guy or he is trying to cling to his good nature.
Appeal to his better side…
Eg. “I married early, and was happy to find in my wife a
disposition not uncongenial with my own. Observing my
partiality for domestic pets, she lost no opportunity of
procuring those of the most agreeable kind. We had
birds,gold-fish, a fine dog, rabbits, a small monkey, and a
cat.”
There are no negatives here. Is this blissful picture true
to life? NO. Humanity and the world is ambivalent. There
should be a balance of good and bad. As soon as he sees
bad exists and goodness cannot be 100% sustained, he
steers himself off the railroad of only the negative
extremities. Thus, he has not acknowledged that balance
exists in the world. Only one extreme at a time...
Irony: Deluded character trying to excuse himself for his
actions
(dramatic irony) The reader can see he is a mad and drunken murderer,
(structural irony) his actions will have consequences and he must be held
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