The Black Cat Edgar Allan Poe

The Black Cat Edgar Allan Poe

Setting: The story opens in the cell of a prisoner the day before he is to be executed by hanging. After introducing himself to readers as a man who underwent a horrifying experience, the prisoner writes down the details of this experience, which led to his imprisonment and scheduled execution. The events in his tale are set at his home and in a tavern. Although these events take place over several years, the recounting of these events in writing takes place on a single day in the narrator's prison cell

Through flashback, Poe’s narrator reveals  the incidents  which bring him to the point of facing his own death on the very next day.We learn of the narrator’s personality, which  is monstrously altered apparently by an addiction to alcohol.

·         Look for words in the story that refer to the mental state of the character.

·         Look for  conflicts that result from a character’s  lack of  self-control.

·         Look for names  or places that suggest darkness or what is hidden.

·         Look for actions that defy rational explanation.

                         Notice as well that Poe provides us few concrete details. His language is often spare and suggestive.

   (“I suffered myself to use intemperate language to  my wife.”)

We must enter into our own imaginations to develop the context of the setting, the action, and the physical appearance of the characters.

                                              Remember, we are expected to enter into the character’s mind, and by so doing, enter into our own as well. What motivated the character to act as he did? By extension, what motivates us to act as we sometimes do? Poe believed that our irrational actions .

Themes

There are several themes some include:

Evil actions can come to haunt you in the end- This theme is relevant because the narrator commits a wrong deed, and it comes back to “bite him in the butt”. The theme is not directly stated, but is a very important message that can be seen.

Alcohol can control you- This theme is another theme that is not stated, but is implied. The theme is an important life lesson that promotes making appropriate actions.

Think before you act or the result might not be what you wanted- This theme is present all of the time in real life, so often do people react rather than thinking something through. In this story the narrator makes decisions before he has time to think them through and they have a negative result. This is another theme that is implied, because it is not directly stated by the narrator.

Based on what you know can you suggest any other themes? How can we apply them to real life?