The Black Cat Symbolism

“My main purpose is to tell the world about a series of everyday events. I tell the story plainly, briefly, and without comment. The results of these events have terrified–have tortured–have destroyed me” (Poe ¶2). In his short story, “The Black Cat,” Edgar Allan Poe begins the story in a prison cell, where the nameless narrator is at, beginning to tell his story of how alcohol brought out his inner perverseness, that created conflict with him and his pets. During the story, he kills his cat Pluto, causing him to feel guilty and try to find another cat that looked the same. He soon finds one that looks the same, but then starts hating it. One day, he tries to kill the cat, but his wife interferes, making him mad, so he kills her instead. The story then ends with the narrator being found guilty of his wife’s murder and sentenced to death by hanging. By looking at symbolism, irony, and simile, one can see that because of perverseness, people must be careful of the decisions they make in life which is important because if we don’t make the right decisions, we can be led down the wrong path.
Symbolism is when people, objects, places, or events have a meaning in themselves to represent a deeper understanding, which relates to the theme of the story. This device, connects to the idea of perverseness and how one must be careful of the choices they make. When the narrator begins to tell his story, he starts off with how he was raised, his disposition being obedient and kind. He also shares information about how he and his wife both have a love for animals. Then, he reveals something about his wife, “Deep down, my wife was filled with more than a little superstition. She often mentioned the old belief that black cats are witches in disguise” (Poe ¶9). This evidence helps to create a deeper meaning toward the story. It reveals that everyone can have unpleasant and negative thoughts. The quote also symbolizes what will happen as you continue reading the story. The symbolism in this story helps prove the theme because Poe wouldn’t have a meaning without having something to represent it. As the story goes on, the narrator starts drinking, making him do awful things. One night, because of the ‘Demon Alcohol,’ he cuts one of Pluto’s eye out. The narrator then states, “So I felt hurt because the creature who once loved me, now clearly disliked me. But soon this feeling changed to irritation” (Poe ¶21). This proves that people need to be careful with the decisions they make and the things they do. The quote may also help the reader be more careful when making decisions. It reveals that many people do not think about the outcome of their actions. These pieces of evidence in paragraphs 9 and 21, help with symbolism by providing a deeper understanding toward the story and its theme, but irony also helps to better understand the story and its theme more. Irony is when what actually happens is not the same as what you expect to happen. There are three types of irony, but situational irony, which is used most by Poe, is when something turns out to be just the opposite of what you would expect. By creating more suspense in the story, irony helps to support Poe’s argument that all people have the spirit of perverseness, so one must be careful of the choices they make in life. In the story, perverseness finally takes over the narrator urging …show more content…
Symbolism, irony, and simile all helped prove the thesis by presenting what can happen, if in life, you give in to perverseness. Poe tries to warn us about how perverseness can change you in many ways, so you need to be aware of it. Symbolism helps create a deeper understanding toward the story, while irony helps create more suspense and mystery, and simile helps the reader understand what it was like to have been there with the narrator. Poe wrote this story because he too had a dreadful life, with many deaths and tragedies, and also was attracted into wrongdoing, or in other words, let his inner perverseness take