In The Black Cat, Edgar Allen Poe constructs a story in such a way that the events of the tale remain somewhat ambiguous. As the story begins, the narrator is in jail waiting to be executed for the brutal murder of his wife. At this point, the rest of the story is told in flashback from the first person point of view. Telling the story in this manner intensifies the effect of moral shock and horror where readers are invited to delve into the inner workings of the dark side of the mind. As the narrator begins to recount the occurrences that "...have terrified-have tortured-have destroyed...", the reader discovers that possibly "some intellect more calm, more logical, and far less excitable than his own", will perceive "nothing more than an ordinary succession of very natural cause and effects."

Additionally, the reader discovers that the man's personality had undergone a drastic transformation which he attributes to his abuse of alcohol and the perverse side of his nature, which the alcohol seems to evoke. The reader also discovers, with the introduction of Pluto, that the narrator is superstitious, as he r

Within the first few paragraphs, the narrator foreshadows that he will violently harm his wife, "at length, I even offered her personal violence" While making a case for the logical as well as the supernatural, the narrator's state of mind is key. All events are described for readers by an alcoholic who has a distorted view of reality. The narrator goes to great lengths to explain the meaning of the cat in the wall; however, the chain of events that he re-creates in his mind may be relying on the supernatural explanation and therefore, easier to accept.

Superstition has it that Satan and witches assume the form of black cats. For those who believe, such as his wife, they are symbols of bad luck, death, crafts and spirits. Appropriately, the narrator refers to his cat as Pluto, who was the god of the dead in Greek Mythology.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 830
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)