Ｐｏｅ’ｓ Ｗｒｉｔｉｎｇ Ｓｔｙｌｅ ｉｎ“Ｔｈｅ Ｂｌａｃｋ Ｃａｔ”

［摘 要］Edgar Allen Poe-American short story writer，poet，novelist，essayist，editor，and critic.Poe's stature as a major figure in world literature is primarily based on his highly acclaimed short stories，poems，and critical theories，which established an influential rationale for the short form in both poetry and fiction.Regarded in literary histories and handbooks as the architect of the modern short story，Poe was also the principal forerunner of the\"art for art's sake\"movement in nineteenth-century European literature.Whereas earlier critics predominantly concerned themselves with moral or ideological generalities，Poe focused his criticism on the specifics of style and construction that contributed to a work's effectiveness or failure.In his own work，he demonstrated what has been assessed as a brilliant command of language and technique as well as an inspired and original imagination.Poe's poetry and short stories greatly influenced the French Symbolists of the late nineteenth century，who in turn altered the direction of modern literature.It is this philosophical and artistic transaction that accounts for much of Poe's importance in literary history.

His stories，particularly his tales of horror and terror，are equally treasured by an immense readership.Yet despite his popular association with the gothic and the grotesque，Poe was also an accomplished humorist，as shown in a number of his short stories，and was capable of hilarious satire at the expense of inferior writers.For all his interest in lurid effects and morbid states of mind，he was also fascinated by ratiocination in his tales featuring.And more than anyone else in early nineteenth-century America，he played a crucial role in shaping and elevating literary taste and in developing aesthetic theory，particularly in the field of poetry.Thus，both with critics and scholars and with the general public，Poe remains a permanent fixture of our living literary culture.For the following content，my paper will talk about Poe's Gothic style showing in\"A Tell-tale Heart\"and\"A Black Cat\".

［關鍵詞］Gothic unity detail horror

［中圖分類號］I106 ［文獻標識碼］A ［文章編號］1009－5489(2008)11－0195－03

Opening the vast history volumes of English and American literature，Edgar Allan Poe undoubtedly was a dazzling bright star.Although it is only a short time in the world for 40 years，his appreciable contribution in the field of literature can be said to involve the creation of poetry and fiction，criticism of literary and many other aspects.Because of his novels' distinctive and unique style，it has been well received by readers for centuries.In particular，his creative techniques of Gothic novel promoted to the peak of art，such as the creation of the\"House of the House of Usher\"in which reader can find the beauty of death and experience exquisite terror is the famous tale of psyche horror.Whereas，Poe took advantage of novel's\"the highest form of literature\"to change the feeling of reality depression，anxiousness，loneliness，desire，madness，terror etc into a\"powerful and charming art\"and strongly performed the possibility，complexity and richness of the human spirit.In his view，terror and fear is part of human emotions.As for some mainstream novelists are fond of exploring the human's kindness，warmheartedness，greediness；terror and fear should also be offered.Based on these concepts，so far no one can hold a candle with Poe's achievements in horror creation.Let.Gothic style was used in\"A Tell-tale Heart\"and\"The Black Cat\".

1.Summary of\"The Black Cat\"

The narrator was a man who loved animals.He and his wife owned many pets，including a large black cat named Pluto.This cat was especially fond of the narrator，and vice versa.Their friendship lasted for several years，until the narrator became an alcoholic.One night，after coming home drunk，he felt that the cat was avoiding him purposefully.In anger at this，he seized the animal，pulled a pen-knife from his pocket，and gouged out the cat's eye.

From that moment onward，the cat(understandably)fled in terror at his master's approach.At first，the narrator was remorseful and regretted his cruelty.\"But this feeling soon gave place to irritation.And then came，as if to my final and irrevocable overthrow，the spirit of PERVERSENESS.\"He took the cat out in the garden one morning and hung it from a tree，where it died.That very night，his house mysteriously caught fire.The narrator and his wife had to flee.The next day，the narrator went back to the ruins of his home，to find，imprinted on the single wall that survived the fire，the figure of a gigantic cat hanging by its neck from a rope.

At first，this image terrified the narrator，but gradually，he determined a logical explanation for it，and began to miss Pluto.Some time later，he found a similar cat in a tavern.It was the same size and color as the original，and was even missing an eye.The only difference was a large splotch of white on the animal's chest.The narrator took it home，but soon began to loathe，even fear the creature.After a time，the white splotch of fur began to take shape and，to the narrator，soon formed the shape of the gallows.

Then，one day，the narrator and his wife went back to the ruins of their old house on some unnamed errand.The cat followed them，and，while descending to the cellar，it got under its master's feet and nearly tripped him down the stairs.In fury，the man grabbed an axe and tried to kill the cat，but was stopped by his wife.Enraged，he buried the axe in her skull instead.He then went about the task of concealing the body.He placed her in a corner of the room and walled up the space.When the police came to investigate，they could find nothing，and the narrator went free.The cat，which he intended to kill as well，had gone missing.On the last day of the investigation，the narrator accompanied the police into the cellar.There，completely confident in his own safety，the narrator commented on the sturdiness of the building，and rapped upon the wall he had built around his wife's body.

A wailing sound filled the room.The alarmed police tore down the wall，and there was the wife's corpse，and on her head，the screeching black cat.His secret discovered，the narrator was sentenced

to a death by hanging.

2.Analysis of the story

Edgar Allan Poe wrote that the single effect was the most important aspect of a short story，which everything must contribute to this effect.Poe's gothic tale\"The Black Cat\"was written trying to achieve an effect of shocking insanity.In this first person narrative the narrator tells of his decline from sanity to madness，all because of an obsession with two(or possibly one)black cats.These ebony creatures finally drive him to take the life of his wife，whose death he unsuccessfully tries to conceal.

This short story easily achieved the effect that Poe was looking for through the use of description of setting，symbolism，plot development，diverse word choice，and detailed character development.In most cases，the setting is usually indelible to a story，but\"The Black Cat\"relies little on this element.This tale could have occurred anywhere and can be placed in any era.This makes the setting the weakest element of\"The Black Cat.\"

3.Symbolism

Symbolism is always an integral part of any Poe story.The most obvious of symbolic references in this story is the cat's name，Pluto.This is the Roman god of the underworld.Pluto contributes to a strong sense of hell and may even symbolize the devil himself.Another immensely symbolic part of\"The Black Cat\"is the title itself，since onyx cats have long connoted bad luck and misfortune.The most amazing thing about the symbolism in this story or in any other of Poe's is that there are probably many symbols that only Poe himself ever knew were in his writings.

4.Plot development

Poe's plot development added much of the effect of shocking insanity to\"The Black Cat.\"To dream up such an intricate plot of perverseness，alcoholism，murders，fire，revival，and punishment is quite amazing.This story has almost any plot element you can imagine a horror story contains.Who could have guessed，at the beginning of the story，that narrator had killed his wife？The course of events in\"The Black Cat's\"plot is shockingly insane by itself! Moreover，the words in\"The Black Cat\"were precisely chosen to contribute to Poe's effect of shocking insanity.As the narrator pens these he creates a splendidly morbid picture of the plot.Perfectly selected，sometimes rare，and often dark，his words create just the atmosphere that he desired in the story.Expressions such as\"apparition，\"\"vile haunts，\"and\"fiendish malevolence\"were added for atmosphere.Another way that Poe used word choice was with synonyms.The cat was not only the\"black cat，\"it was the\"playmate，\"the\"beast，\"the\"brute，\"the\"apparition，\"and the\"monster.\"

5.Character development

Character development was most important to Poe's effect of shocking insanity in\"The Black Cat.\"Without the perversely insane narrator this story can't exist，let alone put across an effect.It is mentioned many times that he loves animals and that he is an alcoholic.In fact many of his rages were caused more by alcohol rather than the black cat.The cat(s)was also vividly developed.At one point early in\"The Black Cat，\"the narrator spends two paragraphs describing his then delightful pet.But as the story progresses both characters change dramatically.The cat is dynamic in that it is hung，reappears with a white splotch on its chest，and has a different disposition than before.The narrator spirals out of control into fits of rage and numerous hideous，unthinkable actions，commencing with the walling up of his own wife(and unbeknownst to him the black cat too)in the cellar.

Obviously，the setting，symbolism，plot，word choice，and character development contributed greatly to the effect of shocking insanity in Edgar Allan Poe's masterpiece，\"The Black Cat.\"Without these，there would be no story at all.Poe's skillful use of all of these elements，the least of these being setting and the greatest of these being character development，creates a shocking tale，which leaves the mind to ponder in all its horror.

6.Conclusion

Today，Poe is recognized as one of the foremost progenitors of modern literature，and of the Gothic style in particular.''The Tell-Tale Heart'' exemplifies Poe's ability to expose the dark side of humankind and is a harbinger of novels dealing with psychological realism.The setting，symbolism，plot，word choice，and character development contributed greatly to the effect of shocking insanity in Edgar Allan Poe's masterpiece，\"The Black Cat.\"In contrast to earlier critics who viewed writer and works as one，criticism of the past twenty-five years has developed a view of Poe as a detached artist who was more concerned with displaying his virtuosity than with expressing his soul，and who maintained an ironic rather than an autobiographical relationship to his work.His writing is viewed as highly revelatory of the darkest elements of human nature.Poe's most conspicuous contribution to the world literature deserves from creating a unity of effect on guilty consciousness Gothic tale and obsessive detail on the horror and misery of Gothic elements.

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