Read Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat. While reading, note any allusions or symbols of racial prejudice you find throughout. Then write a paragraph to explain your findings of underlying racism in the poem. Use specific passages in your explanation. You can find the link to the poem below...
I think the cat itself is a pretty obvious symbol of racism. This is especially true when he hangs the cat, lynch-like, from a tree. Poe seems to be grappling with his own racism; he knows it is wrong to hate, and he may even try to do the right thing, but he can only keep that up for a while. In the end, he knows that he despises certain people, even though he knows it is bad to do so.
ReplyDeleteI would say that the cat is a definite symbol of racism. The fact that he is pure black, and is hung from a tree is a blatant reference to the slavery period in American history. It is obvious that Poe feels torn with his own racist viewpoints, and when he feels comforted by the second cat, who has a prominent white patch on him, he quickly turns on him when the narrator kills his wife. I think this represents Poe's racism against anything/person who is not all white.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator's cutting out of the black cat's eye is a poignant part of the novel. In a way, this scene acts as a metaphor- the narrator was cutting out a piece of himself that he despised. This represents a yearning hatred- note, also, how the narrator's obsession goes hand in hand with his drinking problem. If the black cat represents an oppressed race and the main character is symbolic of white, male dominance, then the cutting out of the eye is symbolic of the way white dominated society foolishly cuts out that which they deem to be different. The main character saw the eye as a malicious thing...but in reality, the cat was nothing out of the ordinary. In this sense, the narrator reflects the way in which society cuts out ideas, cultures, religions, etc. that they don't understand. And the black cat suffers as a consequence of such madness!
ReplyDeleteCaleb