Theme Of Shame In The Black Cat

Words: 1509

Pages: 7

Open Document

Edgar Allen Poe’s The Black Cat follows a man who is confessing his most brutal sins that have led him to where he is now; in a jail cell awaiting his execution. This man commits some of the most heinous crimes imaginable, but he now recognizes that. The narrator is very ashamed of the man he has become. The opening two paragraphs do a thorough job in presenting the theme of shame that the narrator feels throughout the story. In The Black Cat the theme of shame is effectively demonstrated in the opening section as the narrator wishes for him and his actions to be viewed as understandable and relatable, reminisces on the better man he once was, and implies that he is of lesser value than dogs due to the difference in their personality traits. The presentation of this theme early in the story, although somewhat hard to detect at first glance, is a helpful guide in setting the tone for the remainder of the story. Poe’s effective communication of theme within the first two paragraphs shows how well written the story is and is significant in helping the reader find their interpretation of the theme. In the first paragraph the narrator knows his actions were horrible, yet wishes for the readers to see them as “very natural” (Poe 137). The Black Cat begins with the narrator …show more content…
The narrator positions his actions in such a way as to be viewed as understandable and relatable, he reminisces on the better man he once was, and he implies that he is of lesser value than a dog due to their differences in personality traits. Poe foreshadows the theme early in The Black Cat and does it well. This opening section is also very helping in clarifying what the theme is for the story. Shame is made apparent throughout the introduction which helps with the reader’s interpretation of The Black Cat. This is important for the reader to draw meaning from the story and overall adds value to this

The Tell Tale Heart Symbolism Essay

Though tales of terror and mystery undoubtedly constitute a great portion of the modern world’s literature, such stories garnered rather little success in the ages directly preceding the current time. Throughout the decades prior to and including the 1800s, mediums of writing that incorporated elements of horror were quite rare, though a notable contributor to this genre, Edgar Allan Poe, published the entirety of his works during the aforementioned period. While he has attained near universal…

Words 1861 - Pages 8

Abandonment: Little Red Riding Hood and Movies Abandonment Essay

the reoccurrence of the theme in folklore and mythology, in social science, and in art and literature. According to Claudia Black: “When children are raised with chronic loss, without the psychological or physical protection they need and certainly deserve, it is most natural for them to internalize incredible fear. Not receiving the necessary psychological or physical protection equals abandonment. And, living with repeated abandonment experiences creates toxic shame. Shame arises from the painful…

Words 660 - Pages 3

TRS Poe Essay

Steigerwald 1 Thomas Steigerwald Prof. McMillan English 102 November 21, 2014 Edgar Allan Poe: Exploring Common Themes of a Troubled Writer Edgar Allan Poe was an American author and poet born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1809. Poe lived a tumultuous life, wrought with death and financial challenges. He lost both parents by the time he was three years old. Poe was then separated from his siblings to live with a foster family. Over the course of his life, tuberculosis caused the deaths of his mother…

Words 2045 - Pages 9

Cinderella Man Essay

Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine | James Brown | 6 | Lola | Kinks | 7 | Who'll Stop the Rain | Creedence Clearwater Revival | 8 | Fire and Rain | James Taylor | 9 | Paranoid | Black Sabbath | 10 | All Right Now | Free | 11 | My Sweet Lord | George Harrison | 12 | Black Magic Woman | Santana | 13 | Band Of Gold | Freda Payne | 14 | Maybe I'm Amazed | Paul McCartney | 15 | War | Edwin Starr | 16 | American Woman | Guess Who | 17 | Have You Ever Seen…

Words 7794 - Pages 32

Essay on Disney Organizational Behavior

Disney Organizational Behavior i Disney Organizational Behavior Axia College of the University of Phoenix MGT 245/Organizational Theory & Behavior Bonetta Mozingo September 14, 2008 Disney Organizational Behavior 1 Walt Disney once said, “You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it requires people to make the dream a reality.” He realized early that the only way his company would be successful, and he could…

Words 2566 - Pages 11

i want to get into this website Essay

Spelling List for Years 9 – 10 (high school) abandon abroad absence absolute academic acceptable access accident accommodation accompany accurate accusation acid acknowledge acquire acquisition acre activism actor actress actual adequate adjust admire advertise advise adviser advocate afford afraid afterwards agenda aggressive agricultural agriculture alcohol alert Allah allegation allege alliance allied alongside alter altogether amateur amazing ambassador…

Words 2765 - Pages 12

English: Ender ' s Game and Esperanza’s Neighborhood Essay examples

Section I: ENDER’S GAME (3 Q’S) Themes A. Games (Fantasy) vs Reality B. Adults vs Children C. Compassion D. Ruthlessness of Peter and Ender --- Any differences between the two? E. Blur between friends and enemies F. Ender vs Peter - Good vs Evil Characters Ender Wiggin ........... angsty 6 year old genius loser. Valentine ...................”Demosthenes”. Loves Ender. His older sister. Peter ..........................total meanie. “Locke”…

Words 6305 - Pages 26

The Epithet in the Novel "Jane Eyre" Essay example

INTRODUCTION The present course- paper is devoted to the comprehensive study of stylistic device – the epithet in the literary work “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte. The topicality of chosen by us theme lies in the fact that a human being perceives the reality by means of various images. These images exist everywhere: in art, in nature, in thoughts, and in speech in particular. Each of us at least ones created an image. We use different means (stylistic expressive means and devices) to achieve…

Words 18865 - Pages 76

Gp Essay Mainpoints

GP NOTES 2010 (ESSAY) Content Page 1. Media a. New vs. Traditional b. New: narcissistic? c. Government Censorship d. Profit-driven Media e. Advertising f. Private life of public figures g. Celebrity as a role model h. Blame media for our problems i. Power + Responsibility of Media j. Media ethics k. New Media and Democracy 2. Science/Tech a. Science and Ethics b. Government and scientist role in science c. Rely too much on technology? d. Nuclear technology…

Words 24667 - Pages 99