The Black Cat literary criticism

A detailed Summary of The Black Cat literary criticism


There are several characters mentioned in the story, but the most important is nameless narrator, who has tenderness of heart to his companions. He was fond to his animals and he was pleased to find out that his wife is similar to him. They had many pets including birds, gold fish, dog, rabbits, small monkey, and a cat. Pluto as he was called, was the narrator's favorite pet. He gave him food so that cat followed him wherever he went. Sometimes his wife would refer to an old belief that black cats are unlucky.

The conflict in this story is man vs. man or in this case mans vs. cat. As the narrator begins to tell a story using "flash back" the reader discovers that man's personality has undergone drastic transformation from abusive using of alcohol. The conflict begins when the cat bit the narrator. At this point he started to be very abusive to the animal. Considering the fact that Pluto bites him only in elf defense, he should understand his behavior. However his mind created him as a greatest enemy which is trying to destroy him. Therefore the story is filled wit


As the story begins, the narrator is in jail awaiting his execution, which will occur on the following day, for the brutal murder of his wife. At that point, the rest of the story is told in flashback, as the narrator pens "the most wild, yet homely narrative whose events have terrified, tortured, destroyed him."

"The Black Cat" is psychological study of domestic violence and guilt; however, this story does not deal with premeditated murder. The reader is told that the narrator appears to be a happily married man, who has always been exceedingly kind and gentle. He attributes his downfall to the "the spirit of perverseness." Perverseness, he believes, is "...one of the primitive impulses of the human heart." Perverseness provides the rationale for otherwise unjustifiable acts, such as killing the first cat or rapping with his cane upon the plastered-up wall behind which stood his wife's body. We might argue that what the narrator calls "perverseness" is actually moral sense. Guilt about his alcoholism seems to the narrator the "perverseness" which causes him to maim and kill the first cat. Guilt about those

Some common words found in the essay are:
Black Cat, Pluto Soon, Allan Poe, Considering Pluto, murder wife, guilt story, causes effects, wife's body, kill cat, black cat,

Approximate Word count = 752
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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