The next day, the narrator visits the burned-down house and finds neighbors gathered near the one remaining wall, which bears the image of a cat with a noose around its neck. On the night of Pluto’s murder, the narrator is awoken from sleep by his house burning down. The same spirit eventually leads him to hang the creature, weeping as he does so and feeling that he is damned. The narrator returns home intoxicated, senses that Pluto is avoiding him, and cruelly removes the creature’s eye with a penknife-an act he attributes to the “unfathomable longing of the soul to vex itself-to offer violence to its nature-to do wrong for wrong’s sake only” (225). His ill treatment finally extends even to the beloved Pluto.
Over time, the narrator’s growing dependency on alcohol causes his temperament to change toward his pets and his wife, and he begins physically abusing both. His wife continually makes half-serious references to the folk belief that black cats are witches in disguise.
The cat, Pluto, becomes a favorite pet and accompanies the narrator around the house and often in the streets. He marries young, and his wife shares his disposition toward animals, gifting him a large black cat that is both “beautiful” and “sagacious to an astonishing degree” (223). He compares the unreliable nature of humans with the steadfastness of his animal companions. The narrator describes his youth and early affinity toward animals, for which he is mocked by his peers and indulged by his parents with various pets. Though his story terrifies him, a “more logical” mind may find it completely ordinary or detect a chain of cause and effect. This study guide refers to the version of “The Black Cat” published in The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (Vintage Books, September 1975).Ĭontent Warning: This short story contains depictions of animal cruelty, alcohol addiction, domestic violence, and mental illness.Īn unnamed narrator indicates he is to be executed the next day and promises to tell his tale, cautioning that it is both “homely” and “wild.” He says he will present the mysterious events “plainly, succinctly, and without comment” (223), leaving their interpretation up to future readers.
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