The Cask Of Amontillado And The Black Cat Essay - 1643 Words

The life of Edgar Allan Poe is not a pleasing story to be told. Ever since he was a little boy, he had a tragic life that would only get worse. When he was around three years old, his father left and his mother passed away from tuberculosis. Poe was later taken in by a couple. From there on he went to school, was in the army, got married, and worked very hard to get his stories published. He and his wife traveled a lot in order to sell his stories to papers. Because nobody would see his stories the way he does, he drowned his sorrows in alcohol. He and his family starved greatly because of his unemployment, which caused his family to become ill. His wife passed, which only made things worse. He then began to lose his temper, which resulted†¦show more content†¦But, eventually, this bond began to break, and the narrator began to lash out on the cat, and the cat fell victim to the narrator s drunken, violent acts. The man later killed the cat, and then discovered his house was on fire. After this tragic incident, he found another cat, and took it home. He then, just like with the other cat, almost killed it, but instead, he killed his wife. He then proceeded to bury his wife within the wall, and later on was searched by police. He almost got away, but the police uncovered the body, and the cat along with it. Both of these texts both begin with one dynamic of the relationships, and end with one person killing another person and/or animal. But, Poe makes these deaths incredibly cruel in their situations. In The Cask of Amontillado, Poe goes into great detail about the process of killing Fortunato. As I said these words I busied myself among the pile of bones of which I have before spoken. Throwing them aside, I soon uncovered a quantity of building stone and mortar. With these materials and with the aid of my trowel, I began vigorously to wall up the entrance of the niche... (Poe 6). After this, Montresor begins to go into great depths about the process th at led to Fortunato s death. In The Black Cat, the narrator does a similar process with his wife. Finally I hit upon what I considered a far better expedient than either of these. I determined to wall it up in the cellar—as the monks of theShow MoreRelatedThemes in the Writing of Edgar Allan Poe that Mirror his Personal Life1379 Words   |  6 PagesThis essay will discuss the themes in Poe’s writing that mirror his personal life and, in addition, the fear and supernatural motivators for his characters. First, I will discuss Poe’s background and explore how he became best known as a poet for his tales of mystery and macabre. In retrospect he was born January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. His father an actor abandoned the family when he was one years old and his mother an actress died of tuberculosis when 2 yrs old. His foster parentsRead MoreCommen Elemements of Fiction 1570 Words   |  7 Pagesor poems you might notice a similarity in plot. In his worksâ€Å" The Cask of Amontillado,† â€Å" The Black Cat,† and â€Å" The Tell-Tale Heart,† there is clear similarity of plot between the three stories. In â€Å" The Cask of Amontillado,† the reader is introduced to two characters, Montresor and Fortunato. They meet a carnival that is occurring in what appears Italy. Montresor informs Fortunato about a bottle of wine he has called Amontillado, and suspects that it is not authentic. He asks Fortuanto to identifyRead MoreEdgar Allen Poe s The Cask Of Amontillado1528 Words   |  7 Pagescommon (Halliburton). It is the use of these themes that Poe has been able to create works that are both emotionally and psychologically thrilling. In this essay, we will explore the use of symbolism and conflicting emotions in Poe s work s. When of the many repetitive themes that Poe explores, is that of Love and Hate . Poe s Cask of Amontillado (1846) is a story of cold revenge, fueled by hatred, while other stories, such as William Wilson (1839) or The Tell-Tale Heart (1843) portray opposingRead MoreAnalysis Of Edgar Allan Poe s The Purloined Letter 1232 Words   |  5 PagesPurloined Letter†, but what really stood out the most was his tales of supernatural events, insanity, retribution, and death. Poe’s horror stories fascinated the people of the 19th century and readers today with their gruesome and grotesque scenes such as cats being hanged, humans being buried alive, and corpses being mutilated. His tales of psychological darkness and insanity will be analyzed to fully understand the fascination invoked by them, to understand Poe’s maniacal characters, and whether theseRead MoreAnalysis of Poes Successes and Failures in Poetry and Fiction1745 Words   |  7 Pagesgloomy o and r sounds to e ffect a feeling of melancholy. The same effect is found in his fiction as well for example, in the name of Montressor of The Cask of Amontillado and in the name of the cat Pluto in The Black Cat. However, Poe desired to write more seriously on literature and its state in 19th century America but his essays, while praiseworthy, made little impact on society. As Malcolm Bradbury asserts, His speculations about the short story itself are of great importance; he providedRead More Juxtaposing the Most Similar Contradiction in Edgar Allan Poes Work2077 Words   |  9 Pageslittle similarities to each other, like black and white. However, many of these motifs are situated in the grey category. Poe uses the communal thought pathway to highlight its antithesis; the pathway of grey. With the new pathway, he emphasizes the similarities of the opposing ideas until they meld into one solid grey idea. One without the other is nothing more than absolutely nothing at all. Poe creates the grey to both discredit society’s division between black and white and to stress that the firstRead More Poe’s Life†¦ At the Tip of a Pen Essay2201 Words   |  9 Pagesthat the theme of insanity would appear in his works. He suffered from an excessive amount of hardships and tragedies throughout his life that placed him on the brink of insanity. The first sign of Poe’s insanity is found in his short story â€Å"The Black Cat† where the narrator claims â€Å"mad [he] is not†. Present in the state of denial, Poe’s character will say or do anything to relinquish the claim of his madness. The textual evidence is just as ironic as the letter Poe sent to Mrs. Whitman, where AuthorRead MoreEdgar Allan Poe : The Father Of Gothic Literature1393 Words   |  6 Pages1847. Edgar Allan Poe became depressed and even attempted suicide by ingesting laudanum, a tincture of opiates, in November 1848 (Loveday 4). He began to show madness through some of his short stories such as The Tell-Tale Heart, Black Cat, and The Cask of Amontillado. Poe even wrote Annabel Lee to reflect their relationship and Ulalume as a memorial to his dead wife. Poe moved back to New York City and published his most famous poem, The Raven in January 1845. He then had left an editor group NewRead MoreA Brief Biography of Edgar Allan Poe Essay1001 Words   |  5 Pagessubconscious. In Poe’s eyes a cat could be unfathomable loathing and violence. â€Å"The Tale Tale Heart† where he imagined the beating of the murdered victim’s heart haunted him till he turned himself in. It could be a tale of psychosis and guilty conscious. He also wrote a story about revenge â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† where a character is bricked up alive in a wine cellar. The key Pillars of his literary life were reason and logical analyst. His volumes, essays and book reviews establishedRead MoreEdgar Allan Poe s Writing Style1942 Words   |  8 Pagesallowed Poe to create some of the most read pieces of work and to define himself as an author. Poe has many poems and short stories that stick out amongst many people. Some of his most notable pieces of works are, â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado†, â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher†, â€Å"The Black Cat†, â€Å"The Raven†, and â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†. These works are a mixture of short stories and poetry, Poe excelled at writing both. He was able to make his work stand out because of his unique writing style. Poe had a way