The Black Cat

What Unconscious Motive Might Be Operating Under The Main Character?

In Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The Black Cat", the narrator has been presented to the reader that the narrator has a "terrible disease" which is referred to as alcoholism. The theme of alcoholism has been shown in many of Poe's works including; "The Raven" and "The Cask of  Amontillado", however, it is popularly seen in "The Black Cat". The Narrator from the beginning of the story admitted that he was an alcoholic and throughout the story, he becomes more and more addicted to it, which then causes some regrettable actions. For example; one night the narrator had been under the influence and became angry with his cat, therefore the narrator took the cat's eye out. This shows that as the amount of alcohol progresses the size of his violence progresses too. For the peek of his alcoholism, he killed his wife, without any fear or regret.
               Research shows that while under the influence, people feel less restrained and their brain is not clearly processing their senses. Therefore, they feel as if they are in another reality. The Cerebral Cortex (a thin surface around the brain that controls memory and consciousness), is affected when alcohol is consumed in the body. The Narrator when consuming alcohol loses consciousness because the Cerebral Cortex is not functioning properly, as this could be the reason for the narrator's heinous acts.
                  However, the narrator has a motive that unconsciously makes him drink more alcohol which is the main theme of this short story. Poe has not created a specific reason for the alcohol abuse, but the reader can assume that the narrator may not be satisfied with his life that he needs to go to an alternate reality where he is able express his emotions.


(yes, I take psychology and that is how I know the information) 

Annabel Lee Adaptation

The adaptation I chose was a short film made in 2013 :)

  

Out of all the adaptations on YouTube, this short film caught my eye by surprise. The creators of this video took Edgar Allan Poe's dark romanticism to an uplifting story about a love tragedy. I chose this short film because they interpreted the poem completely different from what I had originally interpreted. The short film showed two lovers torn apart by evil angels that were plotting against them the entire time because they did not approve of the relationship. Then Annabel Lee died and the man never recovered and dreamt about them being together. Finally, Annabel Lee comes back to life and they live happily ever after. However,  my interpretation was that this was a toxic relationship that both lovers were obsessed with each other, that when she died the narrator went insane. That there were people who never supported their romance and the narrator blamed them for Annabel Lee's death. At the end of the poem, the narrator killed himself so he can join her in the afterlife. Furthermore, this adaptation (even though it was not the same interpretation) created a beautiful visual representation of "Annabel Lee" with a fairytale happy ending. 

Edgar Allan Poe's Context:

In the early nineteenth century, Egar Allan Poe began both his life and his most famous works. He was American and lived in America in one of it's most troubling times; the transition to becoming an independent country from having the British in control. In the United States in this time period, there was a torn between supporting either the new American constitution or being loyal to Britain. For most literature writers at the time it was a struggle to decide whether to write in the new American literature style or the traditional literary style. However, Poe along with many other American writers somewhat created the new style of American Literature. He was known as someone who really pushed the American Renaissance; a time period in American literature (1830s-1860s) where it was the wake of the "romance" movement. Poe also introduced gothic and British horror story and into American Literature; which is now taught in the American curriculum. Most of Poe's works are centered around "dark romantics " and it was a conspiracy that all of his works were based on his loss of women in his family specifically. This sparked an interest in him and began writing his works about romance; which heavily moved the American Renaissance to the American Literature it is today. Edgar Allan Poe is undoubtedly one of the most famous American writers and critics in history.

Poe in 1849

Introductory Blog Post

       Hey everyone!!! Its Sylvia and welcome to my first blog post :) Here is a little about me:
        I have interests in music; specifically, the guitar and I will start piano grade 1 this year, even though I am not very good at music. I have a passion for exploring different cultures and I always have the need to visit new places. My goal is to visit 30 countries by when I'm 18 and I've visited 25 already, hopefully, Peru or Japan is next on the list. I am seriously passionate about gender equality and get annoyed when people make jokes about women's capabilities. For some reason, since I was a kid I've always supported gender equality as if it is an impulse to protect feminists! (Even my Grade 5 exhibition was about gender equality :D)
         To study literature helps people to understand different cultures and other's experience in life. It opens a door to numerous different perceptions of life for which the person may not have been exposed to before. Literature also teaches people the importance of how one word or different texts can impact someone's perspective or attitude. It introduces different forms of literature and genres that a person may like more than they intended.
       I personally enjoy reading classic novels because the reader goes on a journey with the character and experiences their story. Every novel is like putting on 'special glasses' and you see what each character's life is like; their actions, language, and how they treat people. I think it is somewhat similar to acting; you play so many different roles that are nothing like you and in novels, you read so many different characters to help understand different each person's personality.

Here is a fun little meme of our friend Nicole ;)