The Black Cat Short Essay

1 Pages 277 Words

Man vs. Evil

Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Black Cat” is a true horror story. When an individual thinks of a horror story he thinks of terrible monsters and ghastly ghosts. However, Poe’s short story is far from any of those subjects. Instead, he points out the horrible things that man is capable of. “The Black Cat” is a true horror story because of Edgar Allen Poe’s vivid description of the inherent evil within all of us.
Throughout the story, the reader is exposed to the darkness that is tightly suppressed within man. Poe opens the story describing the narrator as a docile individual who is “fond of animals” (Poe 130). However, as the story progresses the “primitive impulses of [his] human heart” begin to consume him (131). Alcohol engulfs the daily life of the narrator, and in a drunken rage he cuts out one of the eyes of his cat (131). In order to justify his horrific action the narrator begins to describe how all of man is inherently evil: “Who has not found himself committing vile or stupid action, for no other reason than because he knows he should not” (131). Poe is not just describing the change in behavior of the narrator, but the feelings that every individual keeps locked away deep inside of him; he tells that all men “have an inclination…to violate that which is Law” (131).
“The Black Cat” is horrific because it is a reflection of the dark and evil spirit that resides inside of all of us. Poe describes the side of man that society does not wish to address and will continue to suppress until the end of days....