The Charm of Horror Reflected in The Black Cat and The Minister’s Black Veil

【Abstract】With bleed-curdling scenes and horrible feelings， gothic novel is just called “a novel of terror”. This article aims at analyzing the charm of the most important element of gothic novel—horror， from the two short gothic stories The Black Cat and The Minister’s Black Veil separately written by Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorn. By comparing the two stories from the perspective of horrible scene， image and character， the charm of the significant and ingredient element in the gothic novel—horror will be discussed.

【Key words】Gothic， Edgar Allen Poe， Nathaniel Hawthorn， horror

I. The Horrible Scenes

The term “Gothic” has also been extended to a type of fiction with lacking the exotic setting of earlier romances， but develops a brooding atmosphere of gloom and terror， represents events that are uncanny or macabre or melodramatically violent， and often deals with aberrant psychological states （Baldick，203）. In The Black Cat， the horrible scenes are always filled with violence and blood. The first scene is that the image of a gigantic cat was left on the wall when his house was on fire. The second scene happens in the cellar. Traditionally， Gothicism feature accounts of terrifying experiences in ancient castles--experiences connected with subterranean dungeons， secret passageways， flickering lamps， screams， moans， bloody hand， ghosts， graveyard， and the rest （Punter， 56）. It is in the dark cellar that the narrator kills his wife mistakenly and violently. Yet the death of his wife doesn’t give him a lesson that he has became a totally evil person without love and mercy. Therefore， the third scene comes into being. The way that the narrator disposes his dead wife is quite abnormal.

Compared with The Black Cat， the horrible scenes in The Minister’s Black Veil is not so bloody and violent， but have the same effect. The first appearance of the minister in the church brings an atmosphere of dismal and doom. Mr. Hooper walks in with a black veil which adds a gloomy shadow on him. The minister drastically changes congregation’s normal attitude to him. The second scene includes the funeral and the wedding. When the minister arrives at the funeral of a young lady， it seems that the girl who has already dead is afraid of the black power brought by the minister. On the wedding， the black veil also brings horrible and dismal feeling which breaks the original happy and cheerful atmosphere.

II. The Horrible Characters

Matching with the dark gothic scene is the eerie characters who suffer a lot. In every gothic novel， there is always a gothic character with morbid psyche and abnormal behavior. As Punter states， “The Gothic hero becomes a sort of archetype as we find that there is a pattern to their characterization.”（73）.

In The Black Cat， the gothic character is one with morbid psyche and violence. According to Freud’s theory， the human psyche can be divided into three parts： Id， ego， and super-ego. The super-ego is the moral component of the psyche.？Normally， the ego can balance the id and super-ego well. However， if someone suffers from cruel condition， the id will take its supremacy. The narrator in The Black Cat is such a person whose id is out of control. He cuts the eye of the cat， hung it on the tree violently and cruelly. The evil in the narrator’s heart is so powerful that super-ego doesn’t function well. The detailed description of the process of cutting the eye of the cat is quite cruel and inhuman. The narrator’s wife also represents the super-ego. Therefore， by killing the cat and his wife， the evil deep in his heart is all released and he can do whatever he wants.

The minister who uses to be a reverend person and wins the people’s respect， becomes the gothic character in The Minister’s Black Veil. All the people around decides to leave him after he wears the black veil， therefore he sinks into an isolated position. The reason that why the people are so uncomfortable with the black veil is that the black veil represent the dark and evil part of human being. By wearing the black veil， the minister tells the true part of human being that the original sin hides deeply in people’s heart. In fact， all people are sinful and it is up to them whether they face their sin or ignore it. The great part of the minister is that he dares to show the evil and sinful part to the public.

III. Conclusion

Above all， in this paper， the charm of horror in the gothic novels is analyzed. By exploring the horrible scene， the artistic effect of the gothic novel is showed， which can leave people with strong impression. Then， the common image of black of these two novels is revealed， which adds the horrible effect of the gothic novel. Lastly， through the mentality and heart of the gothic characters， the morbid psyche and original sin of human being are exposed. Thus the readers can have a better understand the human nature.

【References】

[1]Baldick， Chris. Introduciton in The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales. Oxford： Oxford University Press， 1993.

[2]Punter， David. The Literature of Terror： The Gothic Tradition. London： Longman London， 1996.

[3]Zhu Gang. Twentieth Century Western Critical Theories. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign University Education Press， 2001.

[4]張琪.愛倫坡哥特小說《黑貓》的恐怖美[J].湖南科技大學(xué)學(xué)報(bào)（社會(huì)科學(xué)版），2011（02）.