Sarah Mertz Silva

At the beginning of the story “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator states how he is not mad. He continues to explain how appalled he is by his own actions saying “these events have terrified — have tortured — have destroyed me.” He then contradicts himself, however, in saying “I detail with awe, nothing more than an ordinary succession of very natural causes and effects.” He is very aware of his grossly violent actions, but he is ignorant to his own insanity. He describes what he acknowledges as terrible acts to be normal events of normal life, a sure sign of his own madness he is unable to see.

The narrator begins by describing his love for animals, pets in particular. He seems to live a normal, unsuspecting life. His wife is also an animal lover, and together they “had birds, gold-fish, a fine dog, rabbits, a small monkey, and a cat.”

The narrator describes the black cat as “sagacious” and discusses how his wife jokingly spoke of the superstitions of black cats being “witches in disguise.” He says she was never serious about the superstition. This cat, Pluto, seems to be the center of his affection. For some time, this cat is most notably his closest companion, following him around throughout the day. It is a “disease” that appears to alter this companionship. He begins to abuse all of his pets and even his wife. For a time, however, he refrains from abusing his beloved black cat, Pluto, until in its old age it becomes “somewhat peevish.”

One night, the cat seems to avoid his owner, and intoxicated, the narrator grasps the cat by the throat. Consequently, the cat bites him. The narrator is infuriated, takes out a pen-knife, and violently cuts an eye out of the cat.

The narrator, though having claimed not to be mad, has clearly proven his madness at this point in the story. Perhaps he is unaware of his madness because he does not feel he is the one committing the violent acts: “I knew myself no longer. My original soul seemed at once, to take its flight from my body and a more than fiendish malevolence, gin-nurtured, thrilled every fiber of my frame.” It is interesting however, that even in oblivion to his own insanity, he is obviously remorseful of his actions. He says, “I blush, I burn, I shudder, while I pen the damnable atrocity.” In the next paragraph, he describes the following morning when “reason returned.” His remorse is evident when he says “I experienced a sentiment half of horror, half of remorse, for the crime of which I had been guilty,” and he proceeds in drinking away the memory of his previous actions. It is interesting to note, though, he is not fully remorseful, only half remorseful.

He blames his following actions on the soul’s natural tendency to “vex itself.” It appears the narrator is attempting to find any other justification of his actions besides being mad. He states perverseness is “one of the primitive impulses of the human heart,” meaning by his logic his feelings were natural, a connection to his first few words at the beginning of the story.

He then hangs the innocent black cat by a noose on the limb of a tree, claiming it was because he knew it loved him and because it had given him no reason to act out violently against it. He says, “I knew that in doing so I was committing a sin — a deadly sin….”

That night, the narrator’s house is caught aflame. It is difficult for everyone to escape, and the narrator suspects the fire must be linked to the atrocious deed of killing his cat. He proceeds to explain why he feels there is a connection, saying among the rubble of his house, a lone wall still stood, seemingly unaffected by the fire, and upon it was, “as if graven in bas relief,” the image of a black cat with a noose about its neck. His suspicion was the cat had been thrown into the home and compressed into the fresh plaster between the falling walls.

Again, the narrator’s feelings of remorse return, or so it seemed. “For months I could not rid myself of the phantasm of the cat; and, during this period, there came back into my spirit a half-sentiment that seemed, but was not, remorse.” Once again he describes this feeling as being only half remorse, however this time he describes it as seeming to be remorse, and in fact not remorse at all. His insanity seems to be overcoming him rapidly. The narrator then seeks to acquire a new pet, a cat, of similar appearance to replace his old cat Pluto.

The narrator is gazing upon a cat as it sits atop his furniture. In approaching it he notes its close resemblance to Pluto, with the exception of one trait. This new cat had a large splotch of white fur on its breast. The narrator touches the cat and the cat purrs and rubs against him. This cat became the narrator’s new companion, and his wife was happy with the cat as well. Again, over time the cat’s fondness of his owner becomes a nuisance. It is seen the narrator is still unaware of the cause of his feelings saying, “I know not how or why it was — its evident fondness of myself rather disgusted and annoyed.” He refrains from abusing the cat upon remembrance of his abuse toward Pluto. After weeks his hatred turns into complete loathing and disdain as he avoids the cat. His hatred for the cat increased in discovering the cat had been missing its eye similarly to Pluto.

According to the narrator, the cat grew even fonder of him. It is likely, however that due to his pure hatred for the cat, its normal actions would have become increasingly bothersome to him, as every minute thing made him angry. The cat was probably not acting any different than when the narrator first got him, but his hatred caused him to feel so.

It is the constant reminder of the white splotch on the cat’s breast that drives him mad. “Evil thoughts became my sole intimates — the darkest and most evil of thoughts,” he writes, and in the following paragraph he attempts to kill the cat with an axe. Upon his attempts, he is stopped by his wife, by whom he is infuriated and then he “buried the axe in her brain.”

For the first time, the narrator does not even speak of remorse. He felt more remorse for a cat than he did his own wife. Upon deliberation of where to hide the body, he does not once feel any “half-sentiments” as before. At this point, it is clear he has been consumed by his madness. He then decides to hide his wife within a wall. He undoes the brick, places her in, and places the brick back in as if nothing had changed. Any signs of remorse have completely disappeared as he says, “I looked around triumphantly, and said to myself — ‘Here at least, then, my labor has not been in vain.’” The cat has disappeared for a while and the narrator is more than happy. “The guilt of my dark deed disturbed me but little.”

Days later, the police arrive at his home to investigate. Out of triumph, the narrator makes comments about the sturdiness of the walls, taps it with his cane, and out of the wall comes a loud cry. The police began to break open the wall from which the wife’s body fell, and atop the head of the body was the cat.

Guilt seems to be a common theme throughout the short story. After the narrator kills Pluto, his house catches on fire, and the image of the black cat appears in the walls of the rubble, an embodiment of his guilt. The new cat that appears is almost completely similar to his old cat Pluto, and in an even stranger coincidence, the new cat is missing an eye — a reminder of the narrator’s previous actions. The black cat seems to never disappear, as in the end when he returns to the narrator’s disapproval. The black cat could also be a symbol of guilt. Guilt constantly returns to the narrator, even though he does not feel it.

Obscurity of love vs. hatred is also a theme in “The Black Cat.” Love and hate consistently appear throughout the story but continue to be misconstrued in the narrator’s mind. A great contrast exists between his feelings toward Pluto and his new cat. The narrator’s love for Pluto is what drove him to committing the gory atrocities against his cat. With his new cat, it is his pure hatred that keeps him from abusing it. The narrator’s feelings of love and hatred contradict his actions.