The Black Cat
The Black Cat is a short story written by Edgar Allan. The story talks about events of domestic violence which eventually led to a brutal murder. The story talks about a man with no name. In the short story, Edgar uses a lot of imagery and symbolism. The use of black cats in the story symbolizes the kind of life that the man and his wife leaves. Their dark lives and the persistent domestic struggles that the family engages in is shown through the use of the black cats. The man says that "I grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others."(Poe 36) The bad dreams that the man has are also an exhibition of the inner struggles that he is suffering from and which he has to fight every day. The dark events that unfold in the story are shown through the visions and the animals. The man ends up abusing and torturing his wife. His reign of terror in the family ends when the man finally kills his wife and all the pets in the home. The hanging of the cat on a tree is seen to be a major issue in the choice of weapons the man makes when he kills Pluto.
The Tell-Tale Heart
The Tell-Tale Heart shows the use of imagery, allegories, and symbolism. The eyes of the old man symbolize his inner vision. The eyes may also have been used by Edgar to show the health of the man. The story reveals the strange powers that the eyes have as they make the body of the narrator of the story to become cold. The narrator says that "I made up my mind to take the life of the old man thus rid myself of the eye forever" as an indication of the fear of the strange powers they have (Poe 62). The mention of a watch by the narrator also is used as an auditory and visual depiction of time. Every ticking as used by the author shows the nearing of death. The narrator has total control over the time the old man should die. The narrator robs time its power of determining the death of the old man. The second mention of time in the story emphasizes the importance of the metaphor. Edgar writes "He was still sitting up in bed listening;-just as I have done, night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall." The banging of the watch beetles is an indication of the countdown towards the death of an individual. The setting of the story is in a house. According to the story, the death of the old man occurs in a house as there is the mention of tightly locked shutters.
The Raven
In The Raven, Lenore becomes the center of the poem. The speaker of the poem is obsessed with her. Since little is said about her, it is assumed that she is just an imaginary memory. The speaker says that Lenore is lost as an imagery to the fact that she is dead. He continues to explain by saying that where Lenore is only the angels have the knowledge of what she is called "From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore - For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore" (line 10-11). Alliteration is also used by Edgar in the poem in the eleventh line when the words "rare and radiant" are utilized. The big entrance of the raven is also an imagery that shows the image of a queen or king. The mention of the stately nature of the raven (line 30-40) emphasizes on this fact.
