StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Analyze the short story - Book Report/Review Example

Cite this document
Summary
It is not often that a writer tells a story with such simplicity and panache and yet captures the deepest desires and nature of human beings with such perfection that the reader cannot help but admire the art of storytelling. Edgar Allen Poe is amongst one of those fine writers…
Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER97.8% of users find it useful
Analyze the short story
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Analyze the short story"

Page Your Instructor’s NameCourseDate Critical analysis of The Black Cat It is not often that a writer tells a story with such simplicity and panache and yet captures the deepest desires and nature of human beings with such perfection that the reader cannot help but admire the art of storytelling. Edgar Allen Poe is amongst one of those fine writers who could use words and plot stories that can capture a reader’s attention and The Black Cat is one of his fine creations.

The Black Cat tells the story of the desires that consume human, about the bad effects of alcohol and how it consumes the individual and the person loses sense of what’s right and what’s wrong and if it’s not alcohol, then it’s anger, anything that does not allow a person to have self-control and to forget about being human, this story gives a narration of how a human becomes an animal. Like an animal the protagonist has no concern about other beings, his comfort is much more important to him than anybody else.

It is further emphasized through him how one bad deed leads to another and how the person loses his conscience during the journey. This paper attempts to bring forward the main theme of the story and then come to a conclusion about the story.The protagonist noted for his “docility” and “humanity” turns into a murderer, how a person so humble can become a killer. Was it because of alcohol that he lost his control? Or was it the curse of the black cat that her wife told him about? Or was it his free will?

The story does not provide a direct answer instead all seem to have an effect. Since it is basically a narrative of a man who wants to unburden his soul before his execution, he narrates the story of his life in the most simple and honest manner. So, it is up to the readers to pick up the themes and clues to what lead to his increasingly violent behaviour.The first trigger seems to be the alcohol, “for what disease is like Alcohol!” As true as it is, but the writer also points out to the human nature of perverseness.

The main theme of the story, perverseness, a nature that is innate to human nature for nobody wants to follow the rules and as far as we deviate from following the basic rules the further we deviate from the social behaviour, thus loosing complete control over ourselves, doing things that lead to dangerous consequences. “Yet I am not more sure that my soul lives, than I am that perverseness is one of the primitive impulses of the human heart …Who has not, a hundred times, found himself committing a vile or a silly action, for no other reason than because he knows he should not?

Have we not a perpetual inclination, in the teeth of our best judgment, to violate that which is Law, merely because we understand it to be such?. It was this unfathomable longing of the soul to vex itself - to offer violence to its own nature - to do wrong for the wrongs sake only…” Besides the feeling of perverseness, the protagonist is haunted by his cruelty towards Pluto, a pet who loved him and never despised him. The more he thought about this the deeper he entered into the path to self-destruction.

Though he tries to write it off saying he didn’t really care but the fear and guilt implanted on him as the feline phantasm and deepened his anxiety and in order to move from that guilt perverseness deepened its grip on him. It was an escape for him from the guilt, rather than choosing to speak about it, he tried to escape it and the more he tried to escape it the more he felt threatened. The anxiety that built inside him forced him to take actions that would free him from the threat and in disposing off the cause of threat he had to dispose of anything else that came in his way.

And he became a murderer. Yet this only leads to more guilt, even though he refused to accept that he felt burdened his behavior shows he was nervous. It was because of his anxiety that built up because of his guilt that he got caught.It can be concluded that Poe through this story shows the basic nature of human to escape situations, his guilt and the pressure that builds up leads to anxiety and the more the person tries to escape it, the more he gets embroiled in the confusion. Perverseness is basic to human nature but it occurs only when the person allows it to take control of him.

It is the will of the person that decides his actions, and a weak willed person like the protagonist can falter easily.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(Analyze the short story Book Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words, n.d.)
Analyze the short story Book Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words. https://studentshare.org/literature/1754137-analyze-the-short-story-the-black-cat-by-edgar-allen-poe
(Analyze the Short Story Book Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words)
Analyze the Short Story Book Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words. https://studentshare.org/literature/1754137-analyze-the-short-story-the-black-cat-by-edgar-allen-poe.
“Analyze the Short Story Book Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words”. https://studentshare.org/literature/1754137-analyze-the-short-story-the-black-cat-by-edgar-allen-poe.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Analyze the short story

Accounting, Decisions, and Accountability

This project of making a recommendation of continuing with inherited investment or not requires an evaluation of financial statements of Sing Chip Ltd.... For the purposes of evaluation the financial stability of the company, tools of ratio analysis have been used.... The company was… In the very next year the company fell down like leaves falling from tree in autumn....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

Short analys about illuminati

government and its working as one force, in order to achieve their agenda of New World Order and One World Rule (Shore 2010).... Their involvement with the… The democratic structure of the U.... .... government has resulted in only two major parties combating in elections for the Presidency, the Republicans and Harris Kamran History and Political Science Analysis 10 April Illuminati and Modern Politics The Illuminati are essentially the few super rich elitist families that control the U....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Create Writing Assignment and Grading Rubric for it

Analyze the short story and create a strong thesis statement around the contents of the short story.... Analyze the short story and create a strong thesis statement around the contents of the short story.... According to Charlotte Perkins Gilman, what… How would you classify the short story and its contents?... What attitude is this portrayed by the short story?... Does the author dissection actively engage Writing Assignment Writing Assignment Instructions the short story Yellow Wallpaper was written targeting a certain group, in a certain setting and aiming to attract a certain audience....
2 Pages (500 words) Coursework

Anaylize the Development of a story- To Build a Fire, by Jack London

John London's short and renowned story “to build a fire” enabled him to earn the most prestigious position of being the foremost American naturalist writer of twentieth century.... The story's plot revolves around the expedition of an anonymous and novice traveler in Yukon… The main theme set by the author is man verses nature.... However, there have been many subthemes like fortitude, new environment, responsibility, endurance, impulsive or intellectual decisions and all of these are interlinked to the main theme, which enables the To build a fire” by John London Number] John London's short and renowned story “to build a fire” enabled him to earn the most prestigious position of being the foremost American naturalist writer of twentieth century....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

The Fall of the House of Usher

The adaptation in the story is inclusive gothic themes and characters which are significant in the plot of the narration.... In the… The story is set in an epic theme a time framing properly fitting the plot of the story.... In general, Poe narration is created to show the events and characters in the House of Usher who is the main character in the story.... Poe uses repetition heavily in the story.... One complexity used in the story is the use of repetition in the novel....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Young Goodman Brown: Conflict between Good and Evil

Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, “Young Goodman Brown,” tells the story of a young man who sets out on a journey into the forest at night, leaving behind his newly married wife.... He meets with the devil and witnesses a gathering of evil minded people in the forest.... There… s a dark, dream-like quality to the events of the night and the reader is not sure whether the narration is only imaginary or the description of a real experience....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Short BEST BUY Stock

In summary, the investment project of the short BEST BUY stock is discussed, and recommendations made based on the short grid, the valuation of stock, the management, the sentiment on the balance sheet of the company, fundamentals and the chart.... The fast paragraph of this paper… It further shows how the company had been performing in the previous year's, which leads the investors to make such recommendations as to The second paragraph discusses the short grid of the company's stock....
7 Pages (1750 words) Research Paper

Analyze Story Elements

William Faulkner's short story, A Rose for Emily, blends mystery and tragedy.... The setting of the story and Emily's character play a pivotal role in the development of the narrative's plot.... The story is set in Jefferson, a small town in the deep American South of the late nineteenth century.... Faulkner sets his story in a world caught between stubborn adherence to the past and the compulsions of modern progress.... The plot of the story evolves from this unhealthy adherence to a bygone past....
2 Pages (500 words) Book Report/Review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us