Discussion
Poe constructed the story in a way that the narrator seems to be already in his sane mind while telling his experiences of domestic violence. Sane but not very sane still; this is how a reader may think once he re-reads the first paragraph on how he describes his experiences.
In their consequences, these events have terrified --have tortured --have destroyed me...To me, they have presented little but Horror --to many they will seem less terrible than baroques."
The events in the story, particularly the cutting of the cat's one eye, the killing of the cat, and the killing of the narrator's wife, are all horrible deeds. And yet, as the narrator introduces his story, he considered that all his deeds have presented him with little horror -- an instance that may cause a reader think that only a person with insane mind will not be greatly affected by such horror.
The narrator's recount of the drastic transformations that occurred in him is perhaps one way of Poe to tell his readers how our mind, if we let it control us, can lead us to wretchedness. From the following descriptions of a weak and tame personality,
From my infancy I was noted for the docility and humanity of my disposition. My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions." To the following dreadful deeds of that "used-to-be weak and tame" person, took from my waistcoat-pocket a pen-knife, opened it, grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket! I blush, I burn, I shudder, while I pen the damnable atrocity."
Goaded, by the interference, into a rage more than demoniacal, I withdrew my arm from her grasp and buried the axe in her brain." one can't help but feel weak and sorry for the narrator - how his life was put into waste. With the drastic transformation in the narrator's personality, Poe did an effective way of affecting the reader's feelings. From my experience of reading the story, aside from feeling sorry for the narrator,...
.." (Poe, E.A.) This perversity in human nature causes the narrator to hang the cat - an act of unbridled cruelty and brutality which has no rational explanation except that the potential for such action lies hidden within human nature. The rest of the story follows the pattern of retribution for the sins of the man. After the killing of Pluto the house burns down, leaving only one wall in which the
" But whoops, from inside the wall that he had so carefully reconstructed to hide his evil deed, came a "cry, at first muffled and broken, like the sobbing of a child, and then quickly swelling into one long, loud, continuous scream, utterly anomalous and inhuman - a howl - a wailing shriek, half of horror and half of triumph, such as might have arisen only out of hell..." So what the
It is also a description of the symptoms a man that has fallen under the abuse of alcohol is showing, symptoms that often go to the schizophrenia and may cause him act against everything that we Humans call humanly and are confident that makes the difference. There are a few lights cast on traits and acts that make us not equal or worse than animals, they just reduce us
The narrator may have actually wanted to be able to express his caring side more openly but was not allowed to do so by the society. He had to suppress his love for human beings and in doing so, he transferred the same feelings to animals. Robert B. Ewen calls it ego defense mechanism, "whereby feelings or behaviors are transferred, usually unconsciously, from one object to another that is
He also tries to cover up his crime when questioned by the police, but his shame and guilt over killing his wife gets the best of him, thus leading to his confession of murder. Poe's use of grotesque images and very descriptive narration is best exemplified in "The Masque of the Red Death," published in 1842 which concerns Prince Prospero and his court in an unidentified location somewhere in Central Europe or perhaps Italy. Many
Their marriage and mutual love of animals makes this a situation that bespeaks long lasting happiness. One of the family pet is a black cat that is fairly large and the man's favorite. This cat is well liked, and unlike the disposition of cats that is aloof and independent, this cat follows his master wherever he goes, even out doors. The wife based on some superstitions has her misgivings
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