The black cat symbolizes the alcoholism of the narrator or Poe. Edgar Allen Poe was accused of being an alcoholic throughout his life and this may actually be the cause of his death. The short story can provide a subtle insight into Poe's struggle with illness and his eventual triumph. The black cat may not just be a, Here are the steps to follow when writing a body paragraph for a literary analysis essay: Start with a topic sentence: The topic sentence should introduce the point or the main argument that you will be, This article has two sections: the first is a literary analysis of Allan Poe's "The Black Cat" highlighting the theme of terror, death and violence, as well as the stylistic devices such as symbolism, metaphor and irony. The second part returns to several criticisms addressed to this work by Poe. We will write a personalized essay on your topic.