Empathy In The Black Cat, By Edgar Allan Poe

Literature is one of the most powerful ways to convey a message. A well-written story can communicate its message while entertaining the reader at the same time. Empathy is a common theme in many stories as a lack of it causes wars, genocides and overall prejudice throughout history. In many tales, the actions of a character either lead to the destruction of themselves or another character. Key parts of the story that assist in portraying the theme are often emphasised using gothic elements, as well as conventions from other genres of literature. “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe illustrates a young man who slowly descends into insanity. He starts by harming his beloved cat and ends up killing the animal. When he meets another cat with similar

It foreshadows, emphasizes and can contribute to the destruction of a character. In “The Painted Door”, the snowstorm rages throughout the course of the story. When John leaves, it leaves readers with a feeling of impending doom, which is the exact definition of ominous. When Ann tries to leave her house, “The wind struck from all sides, blustering and furious.” (Ross, 105). In the end, the snowstorm does take John’s life. Similarly, the setting in “The Black Cat” leads to the narrator’s demise however, it also evolves alongside the narrator. As the narrator continues with his transformation into the tyrannical male, the setting becomes more ominous and many supernatural events and symbols appear. When he kills his cat, his house catches on fire and he says, “My entire worldly wealth was swallowed up, and I resigned myself thenceforward to despair.” (Poe, 174). This quote foreshadows his demise as he begins to experience more unexplained events such as the shadow of the cat appearing on the wall, the second cat appearing, and the white spot on the second cat turning into the shape of a gallows. As the severity of his crimes increase, the setting around him changes in response, which causes him to commit more crimes and become more unstable. The cyclical nature continues even after he kills his wife with his cellar walls “screaming” which leads to him being caught by the police. Both stories display the importance of

When Ann was bored at home in “The Painted Door”, she decided to paint their bedroom door white. When they found John’s body, “On the palm, white even against its frozen whiteness, was a little smear of paint.”(Ross, 115). Ann’s betrayal stirred up many emotions in John, which pushed him back into the storm. Similarly, in “The Black Cat”, the narrator feels unreturned love, which signifies the beginning of his demise. After he attacks his cat, the cat begins to avoid the narrator. Though he recognizes the reason why his cat is scared of him, he says,” I had so much of my old heart left, as to be at first grieved by this evident dislike on the part of a creature which had once so loved me. But this feeling soon gave place to irritation.” (Poe, 273). As his cat ignores him more, the narrator gets more frustrated which leads him to kill the cat and eventually his wife. In both stories, the element of unreturned love is vital in the destruction of John and the narrator however, in one story, it marks the beginning of a character's demise while in the other story, it is the main cause of the character’s demise. Though present at different times in their respective stories, the unreturned love that the characters feel is vital to their