The Cat Suspense Analysis

Poe creates fear and dread in the story through suspense. First he shows fear through foreshadowing. One aspect of this is that it is known that the narrator is going to kill the old man. The narrator says in the beginning of the story that he is going to kill the old man. The reader is left with a feeling of fear or suspense as to when the narrator is going to kill him and waits for it to happen throughout the story. Foreshadowing is also shown because the narrator was super nice to the old man. The narrator was nice to the old man for eight days before he kills him. This is hard for the reader knowing that he is really planning to kill the man and that his actions were not sincere. Lastly, foreshadowing is seen because the narrator stalks the old man while he slept. Every night the narrator stalks the …show more content…
Another sound is the scream of the old man. The scream of man shows that he knows someone is there but he doesn’t know who it is. “The old man sprang up in the bed, crying out- ‘Who’s there’” (Poe 304). The fact that the old man senses someone in the room creates a feeling of fear and adds to the suspense. The reader is put in to the old man’s shoes and knows what is going to happen to him when he has no clue. Lastly the heartbeat creates suspense. The sound of the heartbeat changes throughout the story from a sound of fury to a sound of guilt. At first it is what thrives the narrator to kill the old man and then at the end of the story it changes to a sound of guilt and haunts the narrator. “Meantime the hellish tattoo of the heat increased. It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant” (Poe 305). The fact that the heartbeat gets louder and faster as the story goes on and as the narrator feels more guilt adds to the suspense of the story. As can be seen, Poe uses both foreshadowing and sounds to create fear and dread in his

Show More

Related Documents: The Cat Suspense Analysis

Dr. Hannibal Lecter Essay