The Black Cat by Morgan C Stephens

Edgar Allen Poe

stephe77 — 2025-04-11 23:36:13 UTC

Edgar Allen Poe, born in 1809, was the son of two professional actors. By the age of two, Poe was orphaned when both of his parents died, leaving him in the care of a man named John Allen, an exporter from Richmond, Virginia. Allen, being financially well off, allowed Poe to go to the best schools available. This overtime led Poe to acquire $2,000 of debt due to him being used to the lifestyle of substance and wealth as well as excessive drinking. The debt led to the relationship between him and his adoptive father to decline. Poe then left his university and enlisted into the army in Boston. While in the army, Poe began to write poetry, and after leaving the army, with the support of his grandmother, he continued to write and publish poetry while financially supporting himself with odd jobs. His father, Allen, sent him to a military academy, where he again obtained debt, leading him to get kicked out. He then settled down and married his thirteen-year-old cousin and began to work as an editor, which allowed him to publish his most famous works such as the "Tell-Tale Heart". Edgar Allen Poe's past was filled with Death, alcoholism, and hardships. This may have led him to write about the macabre as well as giving his stories psychological intensity.

1809-1849

stephe77 — 2025-04-11 23:55:04 UTC

Edgar Allen Poe lived during a time of war and tension in America. As a young child, he likely heard about the horrors that occurred during the War of 1812. This, along with the Mexican War that later followed, likely influenced his writing style. The physiological nature of his writing was likely due to him joining the army and hearing about the war and the bloodshed that resulted because of bloodshed. This would explain why his stories tend to involve death, bloodshed, psychological horror, or some form of hallucination. This, along with the racial tensions at the time, such as the Trail of Tears of slavery, likely contributed to the mood created in his works.

The Black Cat

stephe77 — 2025-04-12 00:00:59 UTC

The Black Cat demonstrates themes of Guilt and how drinking and alcoholism can lead to acts of violence and harm that can not be undone. These themes are shown through the main character crying after killing his cat and the subsequent guilt he feels for the act. His lingering guilt is then further demonstrated when another cat shows up and looks similar to the cat he killed, and that cat has a white patch that slowly resembles that of a noose, which he used to kill the original cat, driving him to madness and leading him to kill his wife.

stephe77 — 2025-04-12 00:28:21 UTC

The article by the Poetry Foundation goes over Edgar Allen Poe's childhood and his contribution to literature. Poe managed to create a methodology to create good literature. That being to create a sense of unity of effect and secondly to arouse the readers emotions such as sadness, horror, etc. Poe is also credited with creating two genres, which are science fiction and the detective story. Poe is also credited with being the father of the horror genre, which can be seen through most of his works, which inspired other authors at the time.

Source: “Edgar Allan Poe.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 2017, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/edgar-allan-poe.

The second article I found was an analysis of The Black Cat. The article talks about how the narrator knows what he's doing is evil but does nothing to stop the cycle. The narrator drinks to forget and, in turn, continues his abuse. The article explains how the narrator uses language such as "pressure of torments" to shift blame onto pressure instead of himself. The narrator's punishment for his abuse is the guilt he feels as well as the physical reminder of the atrocities he committed (the cat that looks like Pluto)

Source: cpatt1. “One Man’s Internal and External Horrors: “the Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe | Writing at the Research University, Fall 2020, Sections 079 and 091.” Engl105fa2020sec079.Web.unc.edu, 17 Nov. 2020, engl105fa2020sec079.web.unc.edu/2020/11/one-mans-internal-and-external-horrors-the-black-cat-by-edgar-allan-poe/.