The Setting

This time I’m going to analyze the setting of the story and comment on its peculiarities.

The first thing I want to mention is that the narrator is much more interested in telling his story without giving details about the time and place of action. In such a way, a reader can make some generalizations that this story could happen anywhere with family couples when one member is an alcoholic.

But still a reader gets to know that the narrator is kept in the jail and writes his last words before the death penalty. As it has been mentioned, he doesn’t give a description of his house though a reader comes across the repeated scenes concerning walls. The only wall remains after a fire in the house of the narrator with a figure of a gigantic cat on it. This event foreshadows the following one when another black cat is buried alive in the other house of the narrator. In the second case the story-teller builds a wall himself in order to hide his terrible crime. To my mind, it’s like a bitter irony in which the black cat acts like an avenger…

Sometimes we build walls in order to feel safety but they usually separate us from the reality and may turn us into escapists. The main character tries to escape, but the reality gives him punishment which he deserves…

Meet Edgar Allan Poe!

This time I’m going to dwell upon the author of “The Black Cat” – Edgar Allan Poe.

A couple of general words have been said about him previously, but there are many notable things to be mentioned about such an outstanding writer. Poe is an American author, referred to the American Romantic Movement and generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. Among his best-known works are: poems “The Raven” and “The Bells”, and short stories “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”.

Poe’s way of writing demonstrates stylistic brilliance in the form of varying vocabulary, remarkable repetition, and instrumental imagery. Imagery in Poe’s writing clearly involves readers in the story, and his use of repetition and complex vocabulary ensures that readers understand his themes and implications. By including repetition in his works, Poe places emphasis on certain concepts, informing readers that they are vital to the story’s development. Complex vocabulary serves a similar purpose, highlighting certain themes and requiring that readers devote their attention to them. The inclusion of unique vocabulary also challenges readers to deliberate, instead of simply reading for pleasure.

P.S. The infromation given in this post is based on the following sources (links):

1 - Edgar Allan Poe - Wikipedia
2 - E.A.Poe's Style of Writing