ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Discussing the style of this short story, Poe vividly presents elements of the supernatural, the evil side of human nature and madness, which place “The Black Cat” in the gothic genre. Thrill, suspense and horror are often evoked by gothic elements. The black cats living with the narrator appear to be supernatural.

Detailed explanation-2: -In the Black Cat, Poe uses metaphor, paradox, symbolism, foreshadowing, irony, repetition, and similes to explore the themes of death, violence, and terror.

Detailed explanation-3: -While the narrator, his wife, and a servant escape, the only thing left standing is a single blackened interior wall-on which, to his horror, the man sees the image of a cat hanging by a noose around its neck. Thinking to assuage his guilt, the protagonist begins searching out a second black cat to replace Pluto.

Detailed explanation-4: -The infuriated narrator attempts to kill the cat with an axe but is stopped by his wife. Failing to take out his drunken fury on the cat, he angrily kills his wife with the axe instead. He seals his wife’s corpse in a wall in the cellar.