Abnormal Madness

A detailed Summary of Abnormal Madness

It seems that almost every Edgar Allen Poe story ever written has a much deeper and darker meaning hidden inside its lines. Many of these pieces are demented enough even if the reader does not read "between the lines." "The Black Cat" is an example of this kind of story. In this morbid look into the narrator's mind, the reader follows the narrator as he does many disturbing things in his household. This story, like many of Poe's other pieces, is a venture into abnormal psychology where the narrator is completely insane, not only because of the horrible things he does to his cat and his wife, but because of his state of mind that he shows the reader throughout the story.

At the beginning of the story, the narrator makes the writing out to be "plainly, succinctly, and without comment, a series of mere household events" (p. 1495). As the story progresses, the reader finds out that this is clearly not at all the case. The events within the text of this account are unmistakably the ramblings of a madman who cannot seem to control his actions and keeps drifting deeper and deeper into insanity. In the first paragraph of the story, the narrator begins to defend himself by saying that he is not mad. This defini

Throughout the story, he contradicts himself in regard to what he mentions in the opening paragraphs. On the first page of the story, the narrator says that he "was especially fond of animals" (p. 1495). He contradicts himself once again in talking about his cat, Pluto. At first he loves the cat and cares for it very affectionately. After a while, his demeanor changes and he begins to take out his anger on his pet, along with his wife. The narrator then comes in one night "much intoxicated" (p. 1496) and cuts Pluto's eye out because the cat avoids him. This action basically solidifies his madness in general.

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The narrator says that from his childhood, he has been considered a very docile person. He also mentions in the first part of the story that his "My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions" (p. 1495). At the point in the story when he says all this, it seems fairly feasible. However, as the reader goes on to read, the rest of the story, they find out that this is not the narrator's present demeanor in the least. Just from seeing what is obvious about the narrator and not even reading deeper into his mindset, the reader can gather that the man is probably not a reliable source for correct information.

Shortly after the fire, a "new" cat visits him. This cat looks almost exactly like Pluto except for a white patch of fur on its breast. When he first finds the cat and takes it home, the reader knows only that it looks like Pluto. As the description a progress, the narrator tells that this cat is also missing one of its eyes. Th

Some common words found in the essay are:
Black Cat, Allen Poe, story narrator, abnormal psychology, edgar allen poe, black cat, ALLEN POE, loves cat, story progresses, mind reader, narrator's mind, cat wife, wife trying, throughout story,

Approximate Word count = 1132
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous