Throughout J.D. Salinger’s “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat” many different themes are used to reveal how the protagonist is lead to his ultimate demise. In the stories, there are many themes that are used such as the fall from innocence into despair and ruin, split personality casing the character’s ruin, and deterioration into madness and obsession. This paper’s intention is to offer a clear presentation on how the two author’s works are similar and different.
The fall from innocence into despair and ruin forces the characters into their own demise. There are many different times where the narrator in the “The Black Cat” would give examples of how he was a kind person, “My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me test my companions” (Poe, 1). This quotation touches on the fact that he was once kind and warm hearted towards animals. It also shows how he loses his innocence if you compare him as described in the beginning of the book to how he turns out in the end of the book. In the story, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” Seymour is shown very innocent at the beginning of the story throughout untill the very end. The conversation with Sybil is one example how he can be innocent “‘I chew candies’ she said finally. ‘Who doesn’t’ said the young man getting his feet wet” (Salinger, 15). The quotation for the story shows how Seymour can have a childish conversation with an innocent child. The loss of innocence is seen the greatest when he gets into the fight in the elevator. They both have a loving and caring nature about themself towards other innocent creatures. One of the differences that there is with the characters would be the fact that Seymour wants to keep his innocence. He does this by keeping calm with Sybil, sending poems, and playing the piano. On the other hand, the narrator of “The Black Cat” did not do much to hold his evil side in but unleashes it on other living creatures. The other difference that can be seen is the direction that both characters go once they start to lose their innocence. In Seymour’s case, he loses his innocence and inflicts pain on himself, but for the other character in “The Black Cat” he inflictes pain on other people and animals.
Edgar Allan Poe has a style that is dark and morbid. His tone is very gloomy and obscure. The tone of “The Cask of Amontillado” is almost tame compared to the tone of “The Black Cat”, his other work we covered. The tone of that work is almost maddening. “The Cask of Amontillado” tone is very sinister and methodic. Whereas “The Black Cat”, has a pulse to a cadence and rhythm though no clear pattern is established. Poe’s style of writing seems so personal, as a reader I had to remind myself this was fiction. His first-person style of writing is so detailed and intricate it is very easy to become invested in the world he creates. “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Black Cat” both have themes of revenge where the supposed victim is untimely
In final anyalysis, the work of Edgar Allan Poe has more meanings than those that meet the eye. Tragic events and gloomy details of his life are transcribed on paper, not clearly, but hidden in each of his publications. His stories can be viewed more as footprints rather than allegories: they are his footprints he left behind in the universe. His life story, all of his experiences, good and bad, influenced his writing in some way or another. Today, we can analyze this information and infer facts about Poe's life, much like detectives unveiling clues from the forgotten past, yet the past wasn't totally forgotten. Poe is gone now, but he is alive and well in our hearts today when we read his prose as well as poetry. His bold and powerful words are in essence the entire life of Edgar Allan Poe.
Authors use various styles to tell their stories in order to appeal to the masses exceptionally well and pass the message across. These messages can be communicated through short stories, novels, poems, songs and other forms of literature. Through The Masque of the Red Death and The Raven, it is incredibly easy to get an understanding of Edgar Allen Poe as an author. Both works describe events that are melodramatic, evil and strange. It is also pertinent to appreciate the fact that strange plots and eerie atmospheres are considerably evident in the author’s writings. This paper compares and contrasts The Masque of the Red Death and The Raven and proves that the fear of uncertainty and death informs Edgar Allen Poe’s writings in the two works
Jerome David Salinger was an influential writer in the 1950’s. He reflected his own personal life in all his fictional stories and several of Salinger’s fictional characters appear to be alter egos at various stages of his life. The autobiographical fiction “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” is a reflection of Salinger’s own war experience and his marital infidelity. The story focuses on the main character Seymour Glass, who is a veteran of World War 2 and consequently a victim of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. As a result of the traumatic event he had encountered, Seymour Glass grew feelings of detachment and estrangement from the society that surrounded him. In “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” J.D. Salinger ingeniously uses conflict, characterization, and motivation to reveal how victims who have suffered a traumatic event may be driven to a state of isolation.
Another extraordinary tale by Edgar Allen Poe is, “The Black Cat”. “The Black Cat” recounts the story of an unnamed narrator with a selfless character. Loving animals, he and his wife have several pets, one of which being a black cat. The narrator and the cat grow very close and life for the narrator seems complete, until he beings drinking. Intoxicated by alcohol, the narrator becomes irritable and abusive. One day, that narrator, infur...
Death, despair, and revenge, these three words form a treacherous triangle to any reader who dare enter the mind of Edgar Allen Poe. In many of his works these expressions seem to form a reoccurring theme. Comparing the works "The Mask of the Red Death" and "The Cask of Amontillado", we will discuss these themes while analyzing the method behind Poe’s madness.
Poe endured more than any individual should endure, and experienced so much negativity it was almost inevitable that the theme of insanity would appear in his works. He suffered from an excessive amount of hardships and tragedies throughout his life that placed him on the brink of insanity. The first sign of Poe’s insanity is found in his short story “The Black Cat” where the narrator claims “mad [he] is not”. Present in the state of denial, Poe’s character will say or do anything to relinquish the claim of ...
The human mind, only able to withstand so much pressure before losing control, is like a volcano. The harsh truths that accumulate throughout the course of one’s life can lead to devastation, the eruption of the mind’s volcano. American twentieth century author, J.D. Salinger, illustrates the devastating consequences caused by a buildup of emotions and a lack of communication in his short story, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish.” Salinger “has become, in biographer Ian Hamilton's phrase, ‘famous for not wanting to be famous’ ” (Stevick). In this short story, Salinger details the interactions of the main character, Seymour Glass, with Sybil Carpenter, a young girl. Through these interactions, Salinger provides the reader with a glimpse into Seymour’s unstable, troubled mind. Seymour’s demise shows the importance of true communication and the expression of such emotions. By releasing societal pressures and not allowing oneself to be plagued by materialistic ideals, one can truly achieve a stable state of mind. Through the use of symbolism, foreshadowing, and motif, J.D. Salinger's short story, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” communicates the theme that effective communication is often a monumental struggle.
There have been many discussions over the course of this principles of literature class that talk about theme, structure, and the plot of the story. Fiction has been one of the main genres that have been analyzed in this course too. Likewise, in Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Black Cat”, the plot, structure, and the different themes can provide for a unique discussion in class, which is why it should be included in this course.
Overwhelmingly, truth was lost within this unreliable narrator’s world. It is a repeated theme throughout many of Poe’s works that a guilty conscious is one of the most detrimental things a person can possess. Often times, within his stories, the main character dies due to his or her guilty conscious and “The Black Cat” is no different. The narrator’s warped sense of reality was ultimately the reason for his demise. Poe seems to be warning readers, through his numerous works, that it may or may not be a good thing to have a guilt conscious.
Gargano, James W. “’The Black Cat’: Perverseness Reconsidered.” Twentieth Century Interpretations of Poe’s Tales. Ed. William L. Howarth. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1971. 87-94. Print.
As Irving Howe once observed, “The knowledge that makes us cherish innocence makes innocence unattainable.” In a dynamic society, innocence evades even the youngest members of our world; it evades even the nonexistent members of our world. J.D. Salinger explores this elusive innocence in his short story, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish." Distinct similarities appear between the main character, Seymour Glass, and Salinger including the World War II experience and attraction for younger, more innocent people (Salerno). Salinger conveys this through Seymour’s preference of a young girl’s company over his own wife's company. Throughout the story, “Salinger constantly draws attention to himself and his precocious intellect” (Daniel Moran). “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” revolves around an army veteran post-World War II who visits a beach resort with his wife but spends more time there with the young Sybil Carpenter. Using a historical context of World War II and portrayal of many different characters, Salinger effectively depicts the story of a man in a desperate search for innocence. In “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” J.D. Salinger uses symbolism and figurative language to stress the concept of unattainable innocence.
Edgar Allan Poe is one of America’s most celebrated classical authors, known for his unique dealings within the horror genre. Poe was a master at utilizing literary devices such as point of view and setting to enhance the mood and plot of his stories leading to his widespread appeal that remains intact to this day. His mastery of aforementioned devices is evident in two of his shorter works “The Black Cat” and “The Cask of Amontillado”.
The story is told through the subjective viewpoint of the narrator who begins by telling the reader he is writing this narrative to unburden his soul because he will die tomorrow. The events that brought him to this place in time have “…terrified, tortured and destroyed him” (Poe). This sets a suspenseful tone for the story. He blames the Fiend Intemperance for the alteration of his personality. He went from a very docile, tenderhearted man who loved his pets and wife to a violent man who inflicted this ill temperament on the very things he loves. The final break from the man that he once was, is the “…spirit of PERVERSENESS” (Poe 514). He describes this as doing something wrong because you know it is wrong. Evil consumes his every thought and he soon develops a hatred for everything. “Speaking through his narrators," Poe illustrates perversit...
Throughout both stories Poe shows that both narrators in “The Black Cat” and “The Tell Tale Hart” long for violence. He does not give clear motives for their crime; instead he leaves the detective work to the readers. After careful analysis of both stories, the reader understands that the narrators’ psychotic perceptions of reality, their domestic lifestyles, and their craving for violence, is the only reason these men commit such heinous acts without reason. The horrific crimes illustrated in these two stories along with his dynamic writing style is what has lead Poe to be one of the most recognizable authors of the 19th century.