ipl-logo

Imagery In The Black Cat

697 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Black Cat" have in common

Imagery and Symbolism in Edgar Allen Poe Stories Every bone in my body shook, and every vein pulsed louder and louder until the footsteps stopped right at my front door. Simple, yet descriptive sentences make Poe 's stories interesting and connective to his readers. Although that wasn 't a line by Poe, It’s a small representation of how Poe can influence others. Throughout The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar uses symbolism and imagery to entice his readers. This is extremely important to his writing because it allows the reader to understand, connect and engage with his writing. One obvious and main symbol in The Black Cat is the cat himself. Pluto is a manifestation of a bad omen. Many people have heard that black cats are a bad …show more content…

In most stories, it is important to create a picture in the mind of the reader. Without imagery, stories can be dull and opaque. The “Tell-Tale Heart” has an expenditure of imagery in it. For example, “When I had waited a long time, very patiently, without hearing him lie down, I resolved to open a little --a very, very little crevice in the lantern. So I opened it --you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily --until, at length a simple dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot from out the crevice and fell full upon the vulture eye” (30-31). Poe is excellent at using descriptive words to place a picture in the mind of readers, but in this instance, he uses a simile that sticks in the reader 's mind. By adding a simile with descriptive words, he can add a poetic tone to the reading, and permanently project a picture to the reader. This leaves readers craving more of the story. Moreover, The Black Cat also has imagery showing that Poe is able to persistently fill his stories with a certain tone and image. “I married early, and was happy to find in my wife a disposition not uncongenial with my own. Observing my partiality for domestic pets, she lost no opportunity of procuring those of the most agreeable kind” (43-47). In the section above the reader is lead to trust the narrator because of the way that Poe casually describes his life. By making his readers think the narrator has a casual loving life it makes them believe that the narrator is a good man. Until later

Show More
Related
706 Words | 3 Pages

An example of this imagery the Poe uses is the ebony clock chiming and making the people in the entertainment room go silent in fear. “…. while the chimes of the clock yet rung, it observed that the giddiest grew pale, and more aged and sedate passed their hands

Read More
844 Words | 4 Pages

Poe uses symbolism a lot in his stories to make his writing have a more eerie feeling. ”The Tell-Tale Heart” and “Masque of Red Death” both have symbols that induce fear into the main characters hearts. In The Tell-Tale Heart Poe writes “...for it was no the old man who vexed me but his evil eye “(75).The narrator kills an innocent old man for that hr thought the old man's eyes were judging. Although the old man just had cataracts ,the narrator could not stand the man for his eye he compared looked as vulture's eye. The narrator was afraid of this old man and his “evil eye”.

Read More
483 Words | 2 Pages

Early into the story the wife makes frequent allusion, “all black cats are witches in disguise” (Poe 1), which is a popular ancient notation. This tells the reader that they should be suspicious of Pluto because he could possibly be a witch. When the narrator introduces Pluto to the reader he writes “Pluto—this was the cats name” (Poe 1). In Roman mythology Pluto is the god of the underworld.

Read More
886 Words | 4 Pages

How is the horror genre element of foreshadowing shown in “The Black Cat”? The strongest example of foreshadowing comes in the form of the black and white cat, who not only is missing an eye like Pluto, reminding his narrator of his violent act; but his white mark on his chest changes shape to look like the gallows. This foreshadows the judgement that will ultimately find the narrator. The quote, “Yet, mad am I not- and very surely do I not dream. But tomorrow I die, and today I would unburthen my soul.

Read More
648 Words | 3 Pages

A recurring theme in his stories is that the main character acts irrationally or uncharacteristically because he is driven by fear. Symbolism in the “Tell-Tale Heart” represents a certain extent of fear. In

Read More
1072 Words | 5 Pages

In these two stories Poe uses foreshadowing in way that if the reader spots the small details or Poes “word playing “ he/she can predict what will happen or get a hint of what will happen. In Black Cat there are few foreshadows. One foreshadow is when the narrator sees a cat in the wall and Pluto`s color being black is believed to be unlucky and in this story the narrator is unhappy and unlucky. The narrator gets gouth because of a cat being inside a wall.

Read More
1213 Words | 5 Pages

Humanity’s Delusion Edgar Allan Poe effectively utilizes different elements in the short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” to convey his message. Poe believes that literary pieces should be short enough to finish in one sitting yet still be able to tell just as much to give more impact to the readers (Cummings, 2010). As does his other writings, “The Tell-Tale Heart” portrays several characteristics people have, revealing much about certain extremities in human nature and society in general. In the first few paragraphs Poe already presents us important details to the story.

Read More
491 Words | 2 Pages

As you can see, Poe uses symbolism and figurative language and symbolism in his stories to express his love for his

Read More
1140 Words | 5 Pages

Poe’s use of internal rhythm and alliteration work together to enhance its musicality. This enhances the lyrical quality of the poem, adding emphasis and making it memorable for the reader while bringing forth thoughts about the poem. This is why, as a result of the poem's rhythm, it captivates the reader and causes it to linger in their mind. Lastly, Poe’s adept use of symbolism in “The Raven” enriches the exploration of the speaker’s internal turmoil as he attempts to escape from the grief and despair of the loss of his lover Lenore. One example of Poe’s masterful use of symbolism is the raven itself, with its dark appearance and enigmatic presence.

Read More
845 Words | 4 Pages

The Unified Power of Poetic Devices in "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe's renowned poem, "The Raven", masterfully employs a variety of poetic devices to craft a haunting and melancholic narrative. Through an intricate interplay of imagery, symbolism, rhythm, alliteration, and repetition, etc, Poe creates a captivating atmosphere of despair and dread. This analysis essay aims to explore these poetic devices and illustrate how they collectively contribute to the overall effect of the poem. One of the prominent poetic devices utilized in "The Raven" is imagery and descriptive language, Poe's adept use of vivid imagery and descriptive language immerses readers in the narrator's dark and melancholic world.

Read More
873 Words | 4 Pages

He used his life experiences in his works such as The Masque of the Red Death and The Black Cat. Though Poe had a few other works such as The Tell-Tale Heart and The Raven; they did not portray much of his life experiences and feelings like these ones did. Poe’s themes of death, insanity, and emotion through eyes in his works reflect the actual themes in his life. Death throughout Poe’s life has had an impact in his work. In reading several of his works, the reader sees him using his experiences within those works.

Read More
778 Words | 4 Pages

Poe uses imagery to explain the atmosphere of fear and the continuous breaking of Usher. Poe portrays the surroundings of the narrator as dark, giving an image of the setting “During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year” (Poe 310). The image of a dark day is installed in the reader by this line. This line also gives the reader the image of being alone on a dark day in the autumn. Poe also uses imagery to make his readers a sense of fear “I know not how it was--but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit” (Poe 310).

Read More
887 Words | 4 Pages

Edgar and his adoptive mother had a solid relationship as his adoptive father caused a lot of conflict, misery, and heartbreak for him. This gives an explanation of the dark and depressing tone of his poems. Edgar Allan Poe uses metaphors, alliteration, similes, imagery, hyperboles, personification, and symbolism to create an eerie tone to his poems “The Raven” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”. In “The Tell-Tale-Heart,” Edgar Allan Poe uses a tense tone towards the poem and gives an eerie effect to the readers.

Read More
588 Words | 3 Pages

Edgar Allan Poe addresses the dark and gruesome side of human nature in his writing “The Black Cat”, which during that time and even now are perceived as radical ideas. This dark human nature is displayed in Poe’s writing as the narrator recalls the happenings of a most erratic event. The narrator, a pet lover with a sweet disposition, in this story succumbs to the most challenging aspects of human nature including that of addiction, anger, and perverseness. To the Christian believer, human’s sinful flesh leads people to do wrong because that is their natural tendency.

Read More
910 Words | 4 Pages

Another theme is the power of the dead over the living. Even when the cat dies he still haunts the narrator after life. This help the madness drive within the characters mind. A barrier is broken between life and death in “The fall of house Usher” the sister rises back in bloodied clothes and “The Fall of the House of Usher” the dead actually comes back to life. “It was …the figure of lady Madeline of House Usher” (Poe 515).

Read More

More about Imagery In The Black Cat

Open Document