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The Struggle With Alcoholism In The Black Cat By Edgar Allan Poe

1255 Words6 Pages

A man and his feline companion

A struggling alcoholic’s love for his cat. The Black Cat is a twisted short story that brings the reader through a chaotic recollection of the narrator’s past. Word choice sets the tone early on in this story giving it chaotic sense of the narrator’s distorted thought process. The narrator recounts his experiences with “The black Cat” however he fails to realize that it is a mere figment of his imagination. “The Black Cat” our narrator see’s is in reality a symbolism for his struggle with alcohol. However what really gives the reader a sense of emersion into the narrator’s mind is a deranged first person recollection of how he suffers from alcoholism and how it destroys his life. A person perspective is …show more content…

The narrator use’s a first person perspective to give readers incite into the thought process that is present throughout his recollection of events. Without a first person perspective readers would not see “The Black Cat” through the eyes of the narrator. It’s important to see “The Black Cat” through the narrator’s eyes as it demonstrates the internal conflict that is present. The Narrator describes how the cat follows him everywhere and how it is difficult to stop it from following him in the streets. This is powerful because through the eyes of the narrator he has come to terms with the fact that he struggles from alcoholism. Readers are forced to see how alcoholism is ruining the narrator’s life. A gruesome climax plunges readers into the demonic murder of the narrator’s life proving just how bad the narrator’s alcoholism has become. Without the first person perspective the murder of his wife would have appeared less symbolic of the extreme internal conflict the narrator has with …show more content…

The narrator uses sinister word choice to set the tone for the events that unfold throughout the story. Powerful symbolism in the form of “The Black Cat” is used to explain to the audience how the narrator recognizes his alcoholism but is incapable of overcoming this problem. Finally a first person perspective gives readers an immersive sense of just how bad the narrator’s alcoholism.

Cited source

The Broadview Anthology of Short Fiction. Ed. Julia Gaunce. 2nd ed. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2012.

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