Analysis of the Expressions of Horror with “Unity of Effect” in “The Black Cat”

【Abstract】： “The Black Cat” is one of Edgar Allan Poe’s Gothic short stories， in which he has brought his excellent skills into full play. By his literary pursuit “Unity of Effect”， he has achieved a perfect combination between horror and ascetics. Thus， this paper will focus on how Poe’s Gothic beauty has been realized into maximal sphere and what has caused the internal fear of both the protagonist and the readers.

【Keywords】： Unity of Effect;horror;environment;psychology

1. Typical settings

a. Room. On the night of the hung death of my cat， all of those left fragments， the hung， the head of bed， the rope of neck， are guiding readers to have certain tightness of throat to feel this unease of death. Meanwhile， the room was mentioned just in some sphere， in a small space， and this can produce a limited fresh air for breath.

b. Cellar. Usually， underground cellar is associated with the moisture， coldness， and darkness. In coincidence， the murder of beloved wife happened in this cellar.Thus here appeared a picture of a psychologically metamorphic man with a dead body， a black cat in a dark cellar. The murder was shrunken into a closed and sealed little space， and this can help easily produce a imaginary inner world of horror.

2. Typical characters

a. I. In the story， I can be noticed as a person with twisted and double characters. “From my infancy I was noted for docility and humanity of my disposition” （Trayler 62）. Here， the disposition means personality， but it also can be seen as dis+position， which is misplacement of character.Through the whole story， I lingered all the time between the goodness of mind and the cruelty of behavior， between the fake guilt and self-comfort. All of these show the struggle of kindness and evil and the double characters of me inside.

b. The black cat. First， the entirely black cat usually reminds people of witchcraft， evil and misfortune. Second， its name， Pluto， also has some thrilling suggestions. That is to say， as a ruler of death in Greek mythology， this name Pluto conveys the image of death and underground hell. Third， the sufferings of this cat also can give some imaginary and vivid impressions of terror. Fourth， the appearance of second identical black cat means the revival of the first cat， the revival of the death.

c. My wife. "First， she “shared the disposition not uncongenial with my own” （Trayler 62）， which means my wife has her personality in misplacement， too. Second， as for the attitudes towards pets， my wife was not only caring but also had twisted love. When the cat got an eye cut， she loved it more unexpectedly and when I tried to kill it for irritation， she protected it without considering her own safety， which meant she was likely to be fond of the evil and morbid things rather than the normal animals.

3.Writing techniques

a. First-person narration. The aesthetics in “The Black Cat” isn’t limited to sensual horror no longer， but pays much attention to the psychological horror， because the source of real horror is from one’s inner side， from one’s heart. Guided by the first-person narrator， the readers naturally get into the narrator’s heart to feel the psychological variation as if they were in those typical situations.

b. Usage of colors. The black and the white are the two dominate colors in “The Black Cat”. The narrator led us to a dark atmosphere with so accidental brightly white， so there is an obvious contrast between black and white， and then there comes a quick and strong visual attack by the incessant changes of black and white colors. Meanwhile， the whole environment with only two negative colors usually constrain people’s minds into gloomy and passive stages. In this way， the horrible feelings are more likely to take place.

c. Ambiguity or uncertainty. Ambiguity or uncertainty in a particular circumstance can bring people to a state of wandering imaginary horror. First， in the beginning， readers have been told that this story can be real or unreal. Poe has already created a feeling of uncertainty for readers here. But most importantly， when there occurs the same cat as the one I have killed， the white gallows on its breast first appears to be vague before my eyes and need to be further confirmed. This process of witness and imagination can be too hard for me to shoulder. Thus the horror comes with nonsense and horror becomes more abstract， more panic and more dreadful.

d. Repetition. In “The Black Cat”， the rope and the gallows are repeated unceasingly in the whole plot. The occurrence of these things actually means my psychological changes from the bitter guilt to the total surrender to the darkness of human. The black cat is also repeated， for the second cat is almost the same as the first one. By this kind of repetition， the readers could feel the depression of death and the horror of human evil all the time. Thus repetition has made the whole environment more thrilling and frighting.

4.Systematic themes

To some extent， the black cat in this short story might represent some mysterious and uncontrollable force of outside nature or universe， before which human beings have become so tiny and insignificant. In this story， Poe has presented that human have the courage and energy to challenge the lowest permissible level of moral or to challenge the authority and dominance of the unknown strength， but these human’s energies are limited and once human’s desires go beyond control and are driven to ultimate expansion， human will be doomed and punished.

References

Alterton， Margaret and Hardin Craig. “Edgar Allan Poe： Representative Selections， with

Introduction， Bibliography， and Notes by Edgar Allan Poe.” The New England

Quarterly 8.4（1935）：359-360. Print.

Poe， Edgar Allan. “Review of Hawthorne's Twice-Told Tales.” January 22， 2010. Web. December 2015.

Trayler， Michael. The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. London： Wordsworth "Editions， 2004. 61-68. Print.