The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe

Although I thought the Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe was cruel and insane it definitely did the job of keeping my attention.  At first the story starts off very basic and normal describing him as a decent, animal-loving man. This doesn’t last for long though when the story takes a change for the worse. His thought soon turn him insane and into a completely different person. One night he imagines that his cat, who he loves so dearly, is avoiding him. He grabs the cat and the cat has the typical, instinctual reactions you would expect from any other feline. The cat scratches him so he cuts out one of its eyes with a pocket knife. This caught me completely off guard and really made me start thinking about what goes through the head of people who commit murders. If the person doesn’t have an underlying condition or mental problem what in their right mind could convince them that what they are doing is right in the time of committing the murder. Why would he love something so much and then commit this terrible cruelty? I looked at his feeling for the cat as more as an obsession instead of love. When he thinks the cat is ignoring him, his emotions rage and almost has the thoughts, “well if you’re not as obsessed with me as I am with you then you will pay” Weirdly he then takes the creature and hangs it by the neck from a tree. HIs house then burns down and then in these ashes and ruins he imagines seeing the shape of the cat imprinted in the wall. Another crazy phenomenon occurs when the narrator soon encounters another black cat, who weirdly enough also has one eye. The cat soon starts living in the residence and once again the narrator has an angel on his left and a devil on his right every time he looks at the animal. He is scared of loving the animal too much and then when he starts to imagine the white spot on his chest looking like a gallows, he can’t stand it anymore. One simple act of the cat getting tangled in his feet send him into outrage swinging an axe at the cat. His wife tries to stop him and without thinking he sinks the axe into his wife’s head and she dies. He then tries to conceal her body by concealing it in the wall. Days later the police come and the wife’s body is found by the faint noise of a cat meow behind the wall. The cat was perched upon its head and the revenge of the cat puts him in prison. What I found most interesting about this story if how the entire time we have such great insight as to what is going on in his head while he is committing these murders. You try to analyze him and figure him out but his thoughts and actions seem so unfamiliar one can only guess the insanity within his head.

Add a comment October 15, 2009

Delmonico by Daniel Handler

I found the short story Delmonico by Daniel Handler interesting because of the setting and the narrator. It takes place in a small town bar called “Slow Night.” This is an ironic name for the bar which is normally actually quite busy.   A drunkard observes a bartender and has a very unusual skill at problem solving.  In most stories you don’t have a narrator under the influence of alcohol how is also thinking this sharply and focused. This goes to show this probably isn’t the first time he has drank and probably has some sort of drinking problem. The bar is an escape where he can have his daily drink and get away to clearly think. The bartender’s name was Davis who is attractive, and intelligent and seems to be have seen it all and is full of wisdom. I thought about this and figured any sober person can appear this way to a bar full of drunken people who usually escape to the bar to “find” themselves. Davis and Mr. Jones appear to make the bar there own little world. They treat it as their house or domain and their entertainment is the people who come in and make it different and interesting every night.  people who know Davis respect her but at first look down upon her for her job status. The two men who come into the bar and are discussing the disappearance of one of the man’s wife assume Davis is not smart. They easily dismiss her or don’t acknowledge that she could be of help because she is simple a small town bartender.  Mr Jones and Davis herself trust themselves and their knowledge but are the only people in there who acknowledge this; the reason they sent the men in there.  The two men aren’t the only ones to blame for passing judgment. Davis herself does not like Jeffers because she thinks he has a snobby attitude and is very rich. The story stays suspenseful by having the reader assume Davis does know what happen to his wife but she just won’t tell how she disappeared. In the end, Davis never ends up telling what happen to the wife.

Add a comment October 15, 2009

The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe

      When I first read this story it sounded all too familiar. So many times in different situations people will go and search every detail and analyze every little thing when what they are looking for is right under their nose. This reminds me of when I play tunnel tag or freeze tag. Sometimes, even if I am not tagged, I will just stand there and the people who are it will run past me and right around me over looking me just because I am not running. So theyre assuming if I’m not tagged I should be running.

        The story is based around finding a stolen letter which is being used for blackmail. Monsieur who brings up the matter, has a clue or a gut feeling that the matter is simple, and yet still puzzling of where this letter is. Dupin takes his suggestion and runs with it proposing to go about searching for the letter in the simple, obvious way. Dupin is not taken seriously and this is found odd to the Monsieur. They dismiss his comment and continue on explaining the description of how the letter is stolen. I found this funny because they had obviously called in Dupin because he is a good detective who had solved many mysteries. The stories starts off describing how he had solved two previous mysteries. Although they trust and respect Duppin I thought they were awful quick to dismiss his suggestion to look at the obvious. After weeks of searching, and the reward being doubled Dupin went into the apartment and found a half-torn letter in a cheap card rack hanging from a dirty ribbon. He noticed it didn’t resemble the letter but unlike the other, did not immediately dismiss it. He finally found the letter he was looking for which was slightly altered and refolded. Dupin knew that the detectives assumed the blackmailer was a stupid poet and instead would resort to hiding the letter in an elaborate hiding place not disguised. As the saying goes…”Assuming makes an ass out of you and me”

Add a comment October 15, 2009