Irony In The Black Cat

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The tale begins with an unusually contrasting description of what is to come: that this narrative is “wild, yet homely”. This, before I have even made it ten words into the story, depicts to me there is the possibility of seeing even more contrasts throughout, whether it be situations, actions from the narrator, interactions between characters, or elements of the like. Immediately after the stark contrast of adjectives the narrator outright states that he does not expect the story to be comprehended. What good does stating this provide? Does it not encourage the reader to hold his writing with even more minimal regard? It is said shortly down the page that this is a dying confession; why would saying that the tale is unbelievable aid the narrator…show more content…
He also comments on his severe affliction for animals. It is implied that he prefers them a significant quantity more than humans because they, by nature, are self-sacrificing. This value plays as a driving point for the plot: the narrator does not begin to act aggressively towards his black cat, Pluto, until he displays characteristics of self-preservation. Self-preservation, as opposed to self-sacrifice, indicated to the narrator that Pluto had human characteristics; this indication was enough to entice an immense feeling of ill-will towards the animal who was only trying to protect itself from a drunk, unstable…show more content…
The cat presents the reader with a tangible manifestation of the narrator’s digression into an ill mental state; as the cat is treated worse and worse, the narrator further retreats into the solace of his “disease”, which can be defined as acute alcoholism. Pluto also creates a bridge for the story between the realms of natural and supernatural in the following way: the cat’s first appearance as a docile, domesticated being on which affection was bestowed and eventually traded for insurmountable rage (natural) seamlessly, thanks to the crafting of Poe himself, transitions into the appearance of a remarkably similar cat whom causes the fall of our beloved narrator (supernatural). While it cannot possibly be the same cat, there are a number of indicators that lead the reader to believe it might very well be, thus bringing forth the supernatural aspect of a resurrected cat, or perhaps a cat who never died in the first

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