Syntax in The Black Cat

Throughout the story, the narrator stands at odds with his own impulses, emotions, and actions. The syntax Poe uses to describe the narrator’s feelings for the cat underscore their autonomy and independence from the narrator’s intentions. The narrator is not the subject of his feelings: I felt disgusted and annoyed. Rather the feelings have a life of their own: “these feelings of disgust and annoyance rose into bitterness and hatred.” This conflict between the narrator and his instincts is perhaps the story’s primary theme, and Poe allows the conflict to play out at the level of syntax.