black cat essay
Leo Dalesandro Period: G
Black Cat Essay 11/13/14
In the story “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allen Poe, the narrator of the story contradicts himself throughout the whole story. He said that he was especially fond of animals however he ends up torturing and killing them, he says he feels very guilty after killing his wife but then right away thinks about where he can hide her, and He also says in the last line of the first paragraph that he is to "excitable" to make the murder of his wife understandable, so he hopes that someone logical will be able to understand it. The narrator contradicts everything that he says, so it makes the reader wonder if he is trying to prove himself insane to get off of his death sentence, called the insanity defense. If the narrator can prove that he does not know right from wrong, then he can get off of his death sentence.
The first way that narrator shows that he contradicts himself is when he says that he is to “excitable” to make the murder of his wife understandable, so he hopes that someone logical will be able to understand it. "Hereafter, perhaps, some intellect may be found which will reduce my phantasm to the commonplace--some intellect more calm, more logical, and far less excitable than my own will perceive, in the circumstances I detail with awe, nothing more than an ordinary succession of very natural causes and effects.” (Poe 78) This quote shows that the narrator is trying to make the murder of his wife acceptable but he doesn’t know how to explain it. He killed his wife but lodging an axe into her head as he was trying to kill the new cat. Clearly the narrator has lost his mind or he is trying to get out of his death sentence because he is mentally insane and can not control himself.
Another example of how the narrator contradicts himself is when he says that he loves his wife but then right away thinks about where he can hide her and he does not even grieve over her. “The hideous murder accomplished, I
Black Cat Essay 11/13/14
In the story “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allen Poe, the narrator of the story contradicts himself throughout the whole story. He said that he was especially fond of animals however he ends up torturing and killing them, he says he feels very guilty after killing his wife but then right away thinks about where he can hide her, and He also says in the last line of the first paragraph that he is to "excitable" to make the murder of his wife understandable, so he hopes that someone logical will be able to understand it. The narrator contradicts everything that he says, so it makes the reader wonder if he is trying to prove himself insane to get off of his death sentence, called the insanity defense. If the narrator can prove that he does not know right from wrong, then he can get off of his death sentence.
The first way that narrator shows that he contradicts himself is when he says that he is to “excitable” to make the murder of his wife understandable, so he hopes that someone logical will be able to understand it. "Hereafter, perhaps, some intellect may be found which will reduce my phantasm to the commonplace--some intellect more calm, more logical, and far less excitable than my own will perceive, in the circumstances I detail with awe, nothing more than an ordinary succession of very natural causes and effects.” (Poe 78) This quote shows that the narrator is trying to make the murder of his wife acceptable but he doesn’t know how to explain it. He killed his wife but lodging an axe into her head as he was trying to kill the new cat. Clearly the narrator has lost his mind or he is trying to get out of his death sentence because he is mentally insane and can not control himself.
Another example of how the narrator contradicts himself is when he says that he loves his wife but then right away thinks about where he can hide her and he does not even grieve over her. “The hideous murder accomplished, I