Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe - Literature review Example

Black Cat Introduction A distinguishing characteristic of Edgar Allen Poes stories are the internal psychological aspects investigations of his indelible characters. For example, one of the most predominant traits of his works is that most people go crazy in striving for peace. In The Black Cat, the loving cat sickens Poes central character to the point that he eventually kills it. This cat was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It was even more caring and loving than the previous and therefore the protagonist also goes back to his sinister methods. This time, on the other hand, the protagonist kills his wife. The narrator does not seem to be the slightest troubled by the apparent loss of both his wife and his sanity. Through the narrator, Poe leads you on with a drastic chain of events and inner thoughts. He builds the story upon his detailed description of the events that took place and leads the reader into overdrive with astonishing actions. It follows that the literary element most notable in The Black Cat is Poe’s utilization of the narrator’s point of view to advance moral and psychological investigations. This essay then considers the narrator’s first person perspective and examines the ways that it is utilized to advance the literary and narrative elements of moral structure, characterization, and narrative elements. Point of View and Moral Structure Edgar Allen Poe’s use of the narrator’s point of view in The Black Cat furthers the story’s moral dilemma in many regards. One of the most prominent ways this occurs is in its consideration of the man’s relation with his wife. While in great degree he treats her poorly and is a dysfunctional human being, she is depicted, even through his admittedly perverse perspective, to be an upstanding and humane individual. It follows that the woman’s depiction as an upstanding individual who cares for animals functions to increase the reader’s sympathy for her after the man ruthlessly murders her with the axe. It’s also notable that the man, while feeling remorse and debilitating guilt after murdering the cat, feels virtually no such guilt after murdering his wife. In these regards, the narrative reveals an element of his psychological perversion. While this event is perhaps the most significant in terms of criminal actions, one can just as easily identify his torture and eventual murder of the original cat as the narrator’s most strikingly perverse and immoral acts. Poe makes excellent use of the 1st person perspective in gauging the significance of this event to the narrator’s psyche. He writes, “I knew that in so doing I was committing a sin - a deadly sin that would so jeopardize my immortal soul as to place it - if such a thing wore possible - even beyond the reach of the infinite mercy of the Most Merciful and Most Terrible God” (Poe). It’s clear that only through structuring the narrative in this confessional like way is Poe able to develop and advance the elements that would come to be obsessed on by the narrator and contribute to the story’s psychological complexity. Considering the narrator’s psychological perversity many critics have examined the narrator’s mental perversity in terms of the moral ramifications of the story (Young, Reilly, Ki). While many of Poe’s works seem to advance an amoral narrative, Reilly points out that, “This particular story...stands apart from Poes other fiction to the extent that here alone Poes narrator not only acknowledges his criminality but accepts "this spirit of perverseness" as the instrument of "my final and irrevocable over-throw," (Reilly 94). While this essay is not the place for a lengthy digression on Poe’s implementation of perversity’s role as a central human impulse, for The Black Cat the essential argument is that the narrator’s acknowledgement of his mental perversity functions as Poe’s insertion of a moral element into the character of an otherwise stringently amoral narrator. While this argument is sufficient for some, other researchers argue that reading the narrator’s point of view revelations as somehow adding a moral dimension to the story is a naïve assumption. For instance, Moldenhauer points out that the confessional nature of the narrative functions not to eradicate the narrator of his immoral actions, but in actuality, “The confessor "infects" the reader with the very torments of mind which beset himself, until confessor and reader are mutually released by the dissolution of identity which concludes the tale” (Moldenhauer 297). Here, the writer is indicating that such a first person narrative functions out of such immorality that it actually involves the reader in the narrator’s mental and emotional perversity. Point of View and Characterization Narrative perspective is also utilized prominently to advance character tropes. Consider that the main character is on a quest for personal bliss and tranquility, but uses the most anarchical tactics in getting them. Poe uses his point of view along with the occurring events to create the delusional mood and superstitious tone; he also uses the black cat to represent the authors’ stages of guilt and a certain perversity as the cats’ presence overshadows and goads the author’s regret and alcohol fueled desires of his own self-interest. Some researchers have even examined the narrator’s point of view in terms of the femininity he demonstrates in many of the narrative descriptions and diversions. Consider Poe when he states that the story – as fantastical as it is – is simply, “a series of mere household events” (Poe). An argument is extended then wherein the narrator, as exemplified in his first person point of view perspective, is motivated by a sort of hyper-masculinity to commit the exaggerated acts of violence in the story. Within this argument a number of feminine characteristics are identified, including the narrator’s initial maternal qualities towards the cat, and his descriptions of himself as docile, humane, and tender at heart. However, from these feminine qualities arise violence. For instance, Bliss writes, “Because the cat, his surrogate child, rejects the narrator’s maternal side, the hyper-masculine violence escalates and he kills the cat” (Bliss 74). While some may argue that Bliss’s interpretation is too stringently feminist, it nonetheless underlines the diversity of the psychological depth that is created through Poe’s implementation of the first person narrative point of view. Point of View and Narrative Elements While internal character developments are utilized to advance narrative depth, Poe conversely utilizes outside acts of suspense to cast light on the narrator’s personal perspective. Through these murderous acts, Poe paints graphically enhanced descriptions of his principle characters emotions. Toward the end of the story our principle character tried to hide the body of his wife, this action completed his transformation into a monster. He had lost all humanity, and his rage and hate had consumed him. He is afraid of the second cat, and that fear is added to a state of mind already confused and dangerous. He becomes excessively nervous and has difficulty controlling himself. Once an idea or impulse comes to him he cannot prevent it from running its course. He cannot resist the temptation to lead the police to the very spot in the wall behind where the body of his wife is buried. His quixotic imagination cannot be controlled, and aware of the irony of the situation, he cannot help tapping on the burial spot with his cane. He is now a character in total disintegration leading to the narrative’s ultimate resolution. While the narrator’s point-of-view adds significant insight into his psychological dimensions, it also functions to cast doubt on the truth or reliability of many of his revelations. The writer cannot remember everything that happened when he was alcoholic. Consider Poe when he writes, “But my disease grew upon me - for what disease is like Alcohol!” (Poe). Some researchers even identify the narrator’s madness as a central character element. Ki states, “Poes narrator is "mad" because his behavior deviates from all the moral maxims in traditional ethics, which is on the side of the good and the social order, while his drive ethics is on the side of chaos, madness, and death” (Ki, pg. 1). While the narrator never indicates that his narrative might be compromised by his alcoholism or mental state, it undoubtedly leads the reader to consider the nature of his revelation of events. Indeed, in these regards, as the narrative is structured in the first person perspective and the narrator is clearly deranged and abusing a substance, the entirety of the story is cast in a sort of dark haze. In structuring the narrative in these terms Poe is able to engage the reader on a more visceral and emotional level than would be possible if the story were relayed from the perspective of an omniscient and objective narrative perspective. Conclusion In conclusion, from the character development, the suspense, and the unpredictability of the ending, Poe shows that explicating story with the narrator’s internal thoughts allows for a deeper psychological and moral interpretation and functions to compress a great deal of meaning into a small space. With the many different ways of looking at The Black Cat there does not seem to be just one final interpretation. From a simplistic moral perspective, it seems to have a warning not to give up on the human instinct to care and nurture animal life. However, The Black Cat also hints at a deeper immorality of not only the narrator but humanity. Ultimately, Poe’s while Poe’s story may not have one simple or unifying meaning, its exploration of the moral degradation and torment from the narrator’s first person perspective makes the story an indelible characterization of a truly troubled psyche. Perhaps this is most succinctly understood in his statement, “In their consequences, these events have terrified, have tortured, have destroyed me” (Poe). It’s this torment, directly relayed from the narrator’s mind, that is the most significant literary element of Poe’s tale. Works Cited Bliss, A.. "Household Horror: Domestic Masculinity in Poes THE BLACK CAT. " The Explicator  67.2 (2009): 96-99.  Research Library Core, ProQuest. Web.  8 Oct. 2010. Ki, Magdalen Wing-Chi. "Diabolical Evil and The Black Cat." Mississippi Quarterly: The Journal of Southern Cultures 62.3-4 (2009): 569-589. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 8 Oct. 2010. Moldenhauer, Joseph J. “Murder as a Fine Art: Basic Connections between Poes Aesthetics, Psychology, and Moral Vision.” PMLA Vol. 83, No. 2 (May, 1968), pp. 284-297 Association http://www.jstor.org/stable/1261183 Poe, Edgar Allen. "The Literature Network." The Black Cat. N.p., 2010. Web. 5 Oct 2010. . Reilly, John E. “A Source for the Immuration in The Black Cat.” Nineteenth-Century Literature 48.1 (1993): 93-95, U of California P. JSTOR Masaryk U, Brno, Czech Rep. 23 Feb. 2008. http://www.jstor.org/pss/2933943 Young, Philip. “The Earlier Psychologists and Poe” American Literature Vol. 22, No. 4 (Jan., 1951), pp. 442-454 Duke University Press http://www.jstor.org/stable/2921539 Read More