A Psychoanalysis on Edgar Allan Poe’s Black Cat

Kwee, Ayu Hapsari Kurniawan

Abstract

This paper explains the reason behind the behavioral change of the Black Cat’s

narrator. The narrator, who was once an animal lover gradually changed into an animal

abuser and killer. I assumed that every motivation to change comes from inside

(psychological state) and triggered by external events (alcohol, superstition). In order to

prove this assumption, I mostly used Freud’s theory of Thanatos, the death energy that

includes aggression. This paper concludes that the motivation to change comes first from

inside (psychological state), while external events (alcohol, superstition) serves as a trigger to

release what is accumulated inside. This study reveals that a motivation to change or to do

violence comes from a person’s own psychological state rather than external events (alcohol,

superstition). A person who is mentally healthy, even with external events as triggers, is

unlikely to do violence.

Key words : Black Cat, motivation, violence, aggression, Freud, Thanatos