Please comment on the symbolism of the axe in "The Black Cat."

Your question appears to
indicate an uncertainty about the term "symbolism," especially as it is applied to
this excellent short story by Edgar Allen Poe. When we talk about symbolism in literature, we
are referring to an object, event, person or animal that stands for both itself and also for
something else. Consider a very common symbol in our culture: a red rose. It clearly stands for
both itself on the literal level, a red rose, but also has come to symbolise love, devotion and
affection.

When we think of "," therefore, it is difficult to see
how the axe is actually a symbol of anything. Note how its use is described by the unreliable
narrator who so chillingly slaughters his wife:

Uplifting
an axe, and forgetting, in my wrath, the childish dread which had hitherto stayed my hand, I
aimed a blow at the animal which, of course, would have proved instantly fatal had it descended
as I wished.

It is difficult to see how the axe itself
symbolises anything therefore. Clearly, the action of the narrator in trying to kill the black
cat definitely could be said to symbolise his anger and the way that the black cat has
psychologically dominated and haunted him, but the axe itself seems to be difficult to attach to
a symbolic meaning.