The Black Cat

2 Pages 593 Words

Symbolism of Edgar Alan Poe’s “The Black Cat”

In Edgar Alan Poe’s, “The Black Cat”, symbolism is used to show the narrator’s capacity for violence, madness, and guilt. In this story, the narrator portrays a man who is fond of animals, had a tender heart and is happily married. Within several years of his marriage, his general temperament and character make a radical alteration for the worse. He grows moodier, more irritable and more inconsiderate of the feelings of others. This change for the worse, caused by alcohol, ends in the narrator’s waiting on death row for the murder of his wife. The symbolism of the first black cat (Pluto), the second black cat, and the white spot illustrate the narrator’s expanding madness and capacity for evil.
The most important symbol of the story is Pluto, the first black cat. Pluto, which is the name of the God of the under world, symbolic of the narrator’s evil heart. Pluto started out in this story as the narrator’s favorite pet and playmate. One night after returning home intoxicated, the narrator’s love for the pet seemed to fade. That night Pluto avoided the narrator because of his strange behavior. This bothered the narrator to the point that he would pick up Pluto and frighten him. Afraid of his master, the cat slightly wounded the narrator on the hand. Because of the cats fearful reaction the narrator becomes angry and pokes out one of the cat’s eyes. Then suddenly on one early morning the narrator hung the cat by a noose from a tree. The hanging of the cat is symbolic of the narrator’s inability to except love. And finally the symbol associated with Pluto was his color, black. The color black is associated with the well known superstition that black is symbolic of evil!
and darkness. The cat was the victim of the narrator’s evil and violent heart.
The black cat two is symbolic of the narrator’s guilt. The night after the narrator’s house caught fire h...