Pluto In The Black Cat
Pluto, God of the Dead In Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat, an unnamed narrator utilizes the flashback method from the first person perspective in order to give his version of events that led him to murder his beloved cat and inevitably his wife. The narrator explains his story without any expectation of belief by his readers. He describes theses events as being horrifying and almost superstitious in nature. Throughout the story there are instances where the two black cats have a questionable purpose and it raises a few suspicions. Firstly, are these black cats nothing more than simple house cats? Secondly, if the cats are in fact more than simple house cats, then what do they represent of the narrator? Are they simply a reflection of the narrator's …show more content…
The narrator's wife made common remarks about black cats being witches, and it should also be noted that in Roman mythology, Pluto is the god of the dead and ruler of the underworld (Poe 719). Pluto was the last in line to experience the narrator's irritability, which eventually resulted in him losing an eye and his life (Poe 719). The night of Pluto's murder the narrator's house was burnt down with only a single wall left with the impression of Pluto (Poe 719). Could this be a coincidence? When you account for the comments made by the narrator's wife and the meaning of the name Pluto, one could assume that Pluto was responsible for the fire or even for bringing on the narrator's alcoholism in the first place. In a way, Pluto's story ends here; however, the memory of his murder continues to haunt the narrator throughout the …show more content…
The cat was friendly to the narrator and vice versa. The narrator asked to purchase him yet the landlord had no knowledge of this cat's existence. The reason for this could be that the cat waited to appear only until the narrator came along, possibly as a reincarnation of Pluto. Reincarnation of Pluto becomes a very possible theory, not only for the fact that Pluto is the god of the dead; but on the next morning the new black cat has lost one of its eyes, just like Pluto did. This in turn causes the narrator to hate the cat and lose his composure once again. This reasoning reflects the thesis that Pluto and this new black cat are a separate force interacting with and provoking the
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231 Words | 1 PagesPluto was the main cat until the midpoint of the story. Poe’s character in the beginning expresses his love for animals, but tells us he has a special place in his heart for Pluto. As his owner slowly swirls down into rage and sorrow he still holds
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1512 Words | 7 Pageshe continues his explanation with “My pets, of course, were made to feel the change in my disposition. I not only neglected, but ill-used them. For Pluto, however, I still retained sufficient regard to restrain me from maltreating him, as I made no scruple of maltreating the rabbits, the monkey, or even the dog, when by accident, or through affection, they came in my way” (Poe, The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, page 532). In the beginning, the narrator maltreats the animals and even his wife, but not Pluto, he has a special connection with Pluto. Poe’s stories often show the narrator going mad and gaining a desire to hurt someone or something.
Compare And Contrast The Black Cat And The Cat From Hell
854 Words | 4 PagesIt is also an unusual situation, because in the story, after he hanged the cat and went to sleep, his house suddenly burns out of nowhere (“I was aroused…” | Paragraph 10), and the members of the household, including the man, successfully escaped, and pluto, the cat he hanged, has resurrected into another black cat (“It was a black
Examples Of Suspense In The Black Cat
532 Words | 3 PagesNext, Poe develops suspense in the black cat through the hanging of Pluto. The narrator is unbalanced and insane, yet hangs Pluto with full intent by the limb of a tree. The narrator states, Quote 1 “hung it with the tears streaming from my eyes with the bitterest remorse at my heart” (Poe 2). The violence that the narrator displays with the hanging of Pluto enroots anxiety for the perusal to know.
Suspense In Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat
483 Words | 2 PagesEarly into the story the wife makes frequent allusion, “all black cats are witches in disguise” (Poe 1), which is a popular ancient notation. This tells the reader that they should be suspicious of Pluto because he could possibly be a witch. When the narrator introduces Pluto to the reader he writes “Pluto—this was the cats name” (Poe 1). In Roman mythology Pluto is the god of the underworld.
Compare And Contrast The Black Cat And The Fall Of The House Of Usher
910 Words | 4 Pages“Pluto – this was the cat’s name – was my favorite pet and playmate” (Poe 520). This man is more violent and he hangs and burns that cat he adored. The narrator is not so lucky though, because another black cat follows and haunts him on his way home. This cat also drives him crazy and he tries to kill the cat but ends up killing his wife instead. The narrator buries his wife in the wall and when the police come looking for her body, the cat helps them find her corpse.
Foreshadowing In The Fall Of The House Of Usher Essay
886 Words | 4 PagesHow is the horror genre element of foreshadowing shown in “The Black Cat”? The strongest example of foreshadowing comes in the form of the black and white cat, who not only is missing an eye like Pluto, reminding his narrator of his violent act; but his white mark on his chest changes shape to look like the gallows. This foreshadows the judgement that will ultimately find the narrator. The quote, “Yet, mad am I not- and very surely do I not dream. But tomorrow I die, and today I would unburthen my soul.
The Black Cat Argumentative Essay
647 Words | 3 PagesIn the gruesome short story “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allen Poe a nameless narrator tells his story of his drunken and moody life before he gets hung the next day. The intoxicated narrator kills his favorite cat, Pluto and his wife with an axe. Soon enough, the narrator gets caught and there he ends up, in jail. Although, most readers of “The Black Cat” have argued the narrators insanity, more evidence have shown that he is just a moody alcoholic with a lousy temper.
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2065 Words | 9 PagesAlcohol is a noteworthy theme throughout Edgar Allan Poe’s writing. This may be because of Poe’s struggle with alcoholism. There are two prominent stories Poe has written with strong themes of alcoholism. These stories are the “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Black Cat”. In “The Cask of Amontillado”, alcohol plays a large role in the story.
The Black Cat Unreliable Essay
516 Words | 3 PagesAlso, when reading “ The Black Cat”, Poe will not keep the reader up-to-date with the natural world. He likes to keep his readers guessing. This alone makes the narrator unreliable. When the Black Cat came back after the narrator killed it, both he and the reader were very shocked.
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846 Words | 4 PagesThe narrator got another cat after this and became even more insane in the way he felt about this black cat.
Similarities Between Black Cat And The Cask Of Amontillado
1072 Words | 5 PagesIn these two stories Poe uses foreshadowing in way that if the reader spots the small details or Poes “word playing “ he/she can predict what will happen or get a hint of what will happen. In Black Cat there are few foreshadows. One foreshadow is when the narrator sees a cat in the wall and Pluto`s color being black is believed to be unlucky and in this story the narrator is unhappy and unlucky. The narrator gets gouth because of a cat being inside a wall.
Examples Of Human Nature In The Black Cat
588 Words | 3 PagesEdgar Allan Poe addresses the dark and gruesome side of human nature in his writing “The Black Cat”, which during that time and even now are perceived as radical ideas. This dark human nature is displayed in Poe’s writing as the narrator recalls the happenings of a most erratic event. The narrator, a pet lover with a sweet disposition, in this story succumbs to the most challenging aspects of human nature including that of addiction, anger, and perverseness. To the Christian believer, human’s sinful flesh leads people to do wrong because that is their natural tendency.
The Black Cat Insanity Analysis
717 Words | 3 PagesThe narrator of “The Black Cat” is an alcoholic. By mistreating his pets and wife, he demonstrates how his addiction affects him. Alcoholism itself is an act of insanity because alcoholics see things in an entirely different manner than sober people. The narrator had a sufficient childhood and had a great deal of pets. Once he grew addicted
Violence In Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat
554 Words | 3 PagesHis alcoholism causes him to be abusive and eventually leads him cutting Pluto’s eye out and hanging him. The same night of Pluto’s hanging, the man’s house burns down, where he sees the impression of a giant cat with a noose around his neck on one of the walls of the burnt house. Eventually he gets another black cat with some white fur. He starts to hate this cat, so he also kills it.
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