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The Influence Of Alcohol In Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat

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In the story, The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe, Poe is a mysterious, ill-mannered husband who kills his wife accidentally when he attempts to kill their second cat Pluto, who his wife adores. When he suspects that his neighbors may have noticed his wife is absent he takes to their cellar to hide her dead body behind the plaster walls. Soon, the police demand a search, discover nothing and are about to leave when they hear a cat whine behind the cellar wall that Poe is standing near. Poe is taken to jail and writes his story from his cell, where he tells us he is going to be immediately executed. Poe is guilty and even though he was sane when he killed her he feels very distraught. He was influenced by alcohol and was extremely jealous of her love for Pluto, the cat. …show more content…

Poe realizes as he is drinking he becomes more attached to the bottle and cannot take control. He loses his life and who he is. His mind becomes fragile and lost. Poe becomes ill-tempered and uncontrollably disrespectful. “Our friendship lasted, in this manner, for several years, during which my general temperament and character—through the instrumentality of the Fiend Intemperance—had (I blush to confess it) experienced a radical alteration for the worse.” Alcohol drives him to a state of being irrational and paranoid making him believe others are monstrous and evil. Since Poe has a fiend intemperance, he is driven to evil and despair because of his uncontrolled drinking. As Poe drinks more often his fiend becomes vividly present. This affects his sanity and since he chose the wrong path, he is at fault. Even though alcohol is not the center of the story, it is very relevant because it plays a significant role in Poe’s detrimental

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