Symbolism In The Black Cat

Edgar Allan Poe is well-known for his Dark Romantic literacies that reflect the allure and intrigue of the irrational, the diabolical, and the grotesque. In his psychologically thrilling short story, “The Black Cat,” he demonstrates those abstracts using various figurative elements, including mysterious, horrifying settings and atmosphere, symbolism, and irony. The unnamed narrator first introduces himself inside a cell on the eve of his death and asserts the reader that he is sane. He says that the story he is about to unburden is purposely for clarification and that “these events,” which he claims to “have terrified – have tortured – have destroyed” him, is the cause of all his misery (Poe 435). As the story progresses, the readers discover those events and sees the narrator’s inner morality collapse and spiral downward in a destructive and dangerous behavior. Poe entails all the malicious elements that make a terrifying and haunting tale through the combination of irony, symbolism, and the characterization of the narrator.
One of the major contributing elements, and Poe’s most easily-recognizable style, in the story, is irony. Noted for his docility and humanity of his disposition, the narrator surprises the readers as the story unfolds and slowly loses all these characteristics, replacing it with a despicable and abhorrent personality. As a child, he was very fond of animals, so his parents cosseted him with a variety of pets. This characteristic grows with him as he