The main idea in short story "The Black Cat"greenspun.com : LUSENET : The Work of Edgar Allan Poe : One Thread
I need help on understanding the main idea in Allan Poe's short story "The Black Cat".
-- Anonymous, February 17, 2000
Now, remember that I'm no expert, just a Poe fan, and I think I can help. I think the main idea of The Black Cat is that cats are somewhat vengeful if crossed. You know how he says he loved animals as a young child and always had pets. So when turned on his cat and cut out it's eye and soon after hung it from a tree (gross, I know), the cat got even by haunting his thoughts after his house burned down and he saw that image in the remaining wall (the cat with the rope around its neck), and then giving away the tomb he "buried" his wife in by sort of "wailing". You know, the part when he realizes that he had "walled the beast up within the tomb."
Hope I helped some.
-- Anonymous, April 29, 2000
i think that the main idea of the short story, the black cat, is that human beings really have the capacity for (extreme) violence, no matter how dignified they appear to be...
-- Anonymous, September 24, 2002