The Black Cat Theme
By: Alexandra D. Ransom
Theme Statement
The poem “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe is about the fear of being consumed by an uncontrollable desire from within and losing your humanity in the process.
Evidence Of The Theme Statement
“I grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others. I suffered myself to use intemperate language to my wife. ... But my disease grew upon me — even Pluto, who was now becoming old, and consequently somewhat peevish— even Pluto began to experience the effects of my ill temper.”
“My original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight from my body; and a more then fiendish malevolence, gin-nurtured, thrilled every fiber of my frame. I took for my waistcoat-pocket a
pen-knife, opened it, grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket !”
What Does It Compare To
The poem “The Black Cat” is about a drunk who can’t control himself and starts to lose control of his mind and actions. This reminded me allot about “The Russian Sleep Experiment”. The Russian Sleep Experiment is about war criminals being falsely promised freedom if they did the experiment which had them in a chamber with this stimulate to keep them awake for 30 days. The first 5 days are fine but they start to act different then through out the next 5 or so days everything went down hill, from losing patients, scientists and military members from this experiment.
Fear Statement
The story “The Russian Sleep Experiment” has an origin of unknown specifics but can be found with a simple search. It’s about an uncontrollable need for something that has you losing all humanity and self control for something that won’t last.
Evidence For The Fear Statement
“He pointed his gun at the remaining subject, still restrained to a bed as the remaining members of the medical and research team fled the room. “I won’t be locked in here with these things! Not with you!” he screamed at the man strapped to the table. “WHAT ARE YOU?” he demanded. “I must know!”
The subject smiled.
“Have you forgotten so easily?” The subject asked. “We are you. We are the madness that lurks within you all, begging to be free at every moment in your deepest animal mind. We are what you hide from in your beds every night. We are what you sedate into silence and paralysis when you go to the nocturnal haven where we cannot tread.”
The researcher paused. Then aimed at the subject’s heart and fired. The EEG flatlined as the subject weakly choked out, “So… nearly… free…”
The subject smiled.
“Have you forgotten so easily?” The subject asked. “We are you. We are the madness that lurks within you all, begging to be free at every moment in your deepest animal mind. We are what you hide from in your beds every night. We are what you sedate into silence and paralysis when you go to the nocturnal haven where we cannot tread.”
The researcher paused. Then aimed at the subject’s heart and fired. The EEG flatlined as the subject weakly choked out, “So… nearly… free…”