Alcoholism In Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Black Cat'
n the beginning of The Black Cat, the narrator tells us that he is sentenced to die the following day and decides to tell us the chain of events that had led him to this. He describes some unlikely events and hint at a possible supernatural involvement. Some tales are hard to believe, especially when the narrator repeatedly talks about his addiction to alcohol. Alcoholism can explain some of the narrator’s compulsive behaviors, aggression, self-destructive behaviors, and at the beginning, guilt. But this doesn’t explain the mental confusion, lack of restraint, inappropriate emotional responses, and, as the story progresses, lack of remorse, and why he may have seen or heard things that aren't real.
All of these are symptoms of schizophrenia
…show more content…
But the narrator’s personality completely changes and take a turn for the worse. The narrator confesses that the change in his character is due to an excessive amount of alcohol and that with every day his disease grows worse. He becomes aggressive and starts to beat his wife and his animals.
But we get our first glimpse at the narrator’s schizophrenia when he finally snaps and cuts out one of his cat’s eye. He experiences feelings of remorse and horror after but describes these feeling as feeble and soon continued with his wayward ways. When he notices that the cat is avoiding him he has some feelings of guilty but that soon turns into irritation that grows into perverseness. This is when we see the narrator become a full blown schizophrenic. In cold blood, he ties a noose around Pluto’s neck and hangs the cat in a tree.
His reasons for killing Pluto was because he knew that once, the cat had loved him and because it was the wrong thing to do and wanted to do it anyway. He wanted to destroy his humanity, to sin, and damn himself beyond the reach of God’s mercy.
This lack of restraint, of remorse, and need to inflict harm on himself and other is a huge red flag and from here it can only get
The Yellow Wallpaper Mental Illness
916 Words | 4 PagesThe narrator becomes increasingly fixated on the wallpaper, ultimately seeing a woman trapped behind it. This fixation represents her own confinement and the breakdown of her mental state. Similarly, in "The Black Cat," the narrator becomes increasingly consumed by guilt and addiction, leading to his own confinement in a self-imposed prison of his own guilt and fear. The black cat serves as a physical manifestation of his guilt and addiction, a constant reminder of his inner turmoil and confinement.
Edgar Allan Poe Alcoholism Theory
147 Words | 1 PagesThis online article reviewed the many theories that surround the death of Edgar Allen Poe to date. The articled emphasized that the alcohol theory is the most commonly accepted cause of death recognized by majority of people. Even Poe’s good friend J.E. Snodgrass felt binge drinking caused his death. Other critics argued Poe was a victim of cooping, a practice that entailed bribing him with alcohol, thus forcing him to vote repeatedly in polling booths for a particular candidate, as Balitmore’s elections were notorious for political uproar and extortion. This would explain the conditions under which Poe was foundOthers suggested Poe died of other medical ailments ranging from brain tumors, heart disease, tuberculosis, rabies, epilepsy,
Edgar Allan Poe's Impact On America
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.
Insanity In The Raven By Edgar Allan Poe
466 Words | 2 PagesFor example, after the narrator gouges his cat's eye out, the cat becomes petrified of him. As a result the narrator ". . .slipped a noose about its neck and hung it to the limb of a tree" (Poe 9). The narrator's reasoning for this was his incessant drinking and short temperament, although that is hardly an excuse. Later on in the story, the narrator finds another cat, who he also attempts to kill for no good reason.
Alcoholism In Edgar Allen Poe's Death
478 Words | 2 PagesFrom the very beginning of Edgar Allen Poe’s life, he was a mystery. But the most mysterious thing about his life is his death. The lack of information on how he died leads to several theories, which writers and experts have researched and it's come down to either alcohol or rabies. There is one reasonable explanation of how he dies, alcohol poisoning. There were many signs Poe showed related with alcohol poisoning, he had a past of drinking, and there is little evidence that rabies was the cause.
Examples Of Suspense In The Black Cat
532 Words | 3 PagesThis raises the questions about why the narrator hangs Pluto by the neck on a tree. The main character shares, “[I] hung it because I knew that in so doing I was committing a sin” (Poe 2). The reader questions why the narrator hangs Pluto if he knew he was committing a sin, which leads the reader to wonder what will happen next.
Suspense In Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat
483 Words | 2 PagesSo when the narrator does all those horribly things to him and all this weird stuff start happening, it makes the reader nervous to know if Pluto could actually be the one causing this stuff to
Comparison Of Insanity In Tell-Tale Heart And The Yellow Wallpaper
1100 Words | 5 PagesInsanity in “The Tell Tale Heart” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a new mother is forced to undergo the rest cure to try and heal. In the “Tell-Tale heart” Poe’s main character, a man known only by the ubiquitous title of caretaker, is insane prior to the start of the story. There are many similarities between these short stories, as well as many differences.
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.
Theme Of Alcoholism In Edgar Allan Poe
2065 Words | 9 PagesIn many ways, the narrator is confined mentally. Once he starts drinking, his irritability is constant. He is annoyed by Pluto(his cat), and he has begun to abuse his wife. After he starts living the way he is now, he cannot go back to living the way he lived before. The narrator cuts out his cat’s eye, and later kills the cat.
The Black Cat Unreliable Essay
516 Words | 3 PagesThe narrator in ‘The Black Cat’ seems to act like two people at once . The narrator starts his story by trying to tell his readers he is not crazy. He says, “Yet, mad am I not -- and very surely do I not dream (“The Black Cat”).” This is a good example of unreliable narrator, because only crazy people try really hard to make others believe they are not crazy. The narrator does not help his case when he admits to hurting the cat for fun.
Similarities Between The Black Cat And The Tell Tale Heart
846 Words | 4 PagesThe narrator got another cat after this and became even more insane in the way he felt about this black cat.
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
Edgar Allan Poe's Tales Of The Criminal Insanity Analysis
1395 Words | 6 PagesIn Edgar Allan Poe’s tales of criminal insanity, the first-person narrators confess unsound confessions. They control the narrative, which only allows us to see through their eyes. However, they do describe their own pathological or psychological actions so conscientiously that they exhibit their own insanity. They are usually incapable of stepping back from their narratives to detect their own madness. The narrator 's’ fluency is meticulous and often opulent.
Violence In Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat
554 Words | 3 PagesThis essay will be focusing on the world where his story “The Black Cat” takes place. This world of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Black Cat” is unnatural, with heavy themes of violence. Characters in this world behave unnaturally with violence and cruelty, and murder is commonplace. “The Black Cat”" starts off a man who loves his black cat Pluto. Though he loves Pluto he begin starts to have outbursts due to alcoholism.
More about Alcoholism In Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Black Cat'
The Yellow Wallpaper Mental Illness
916 Words | 4 PagesEdgar Allan Poe Alcoholism Theory
147 Words | 1 PagesEdgar Allan Poe's Impact On America
1512 Words | 7 PagesInsanity In The Raven By Edgar Allan Poe
466 Words | 2 PagesAlcoholism In Edgar Allen Poe's Death
478 Words | 2 PagesExamples Of Suspense In The Black Cat
532 Words | 3 PagesSuspense In Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat
483 Words | 2 PagesComparison Of Insanity In Tell-Tale Heart And The Yellow Wallpaper
1100 Words | 5 PagesThe Black Cat Argumentative Essay
647 Words | 3 PagesTheme Of Alcoholism In Edgar Allan Poe
2065 Words | 9 PagesThe Black Cat Unreliable Essay
516 Words | 3 PagesSimilarities Between The Black Cat And The Tell Tale Heart
846 Words | 4 PagesThe Black Cat Insanity Analysis
717 Words | 3 PagesEdgar Allan Poe's Tales Of The Criminal Insanity Analysis
1395 Words | 6 PagesViolence In Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat
554 Words | 3 Pages