Summary
On
the eve of his death, an unnamed narrator opens the story by
proclaiming that he is sane, despite the wild narrative he is about
to convey. This narrative begins years before, when the narrator’s
honorable character is well known and celebrated. He confesses a
great love for cats and dogs, both of which, he says, respect the
fidelity of friendship, unlike fellow men. The narrator marries at a
young age and introduces his wife to the domestic joys of owning
pets. Among birds, goldfish, a dog, rabbits, and a monkey, the
narrator singles out a large and beautiful black cat, named Pluto, as
his favorite.
Though
he loves Pluto, the narrator begins to suffer from violent mood
swings, predominantly due to the influence of alcohol. He takes to
mistreating not only the other animals but also his wife. During this
uncontrollable rage, he spares only Pluto. After returning home quite
drunk one night, the narrator lashes out at Pluto. Believing the cat
has avoided him, he vengefully grasps the cat, only to be bitten on
the hand. In demonic retaliation, the narrator pulls a penknife from
his pocket and cuts out one of the cat’s eyes. Though the narrator
wakes the next morning with a partial feeling of remorse, he is
unable to reverse the newly ominous course of his black soul. Ignored
for certain now by the wounded cat, the narrator soon seeks further
retaliation. He is overwhelmed by a spirit of PERVERSENESS,
and sets out to commit wrong for the sake of wrong. He hangs Pluto
from the limb of a tree one morning.
On
the night of Pluto’s hanging, the narrator’s family’s house
burns down, but he dismisses the possibility of a connection between
the two events. The day after the fire, which destroys all the
narrator’s possessions, he witnesses a group of neighbors collected
around a wall that remains standing. Investigating their shouts of
amazement, the narrator discovers the impression of a gigantic cat
with a rope around its neck on the surface of the wall. The narrator
attempts to explain rationally the existence of the impression, but
he finds himself haunted by this phantasm over the course of many
months. One night, while out drunk, the narrator discovers a black
object poised upon a large barrel of alcohol. A new black cat has
appeared, resembling Pluto but with a splash of white on his fur.
As
with Pluto, the narrator experiences a great fondness for the
mysterious cat, which no one has seen before. The cat becomes part of
the household, much adored by his wife as well. However, following
the earlier pattern, the narrator soon cannot resist feelings of
hatred for the cat. These murderous sentiments intensify when the
narrator discovers that the cat’s splash of white fur has
mysteriously taken on the shape of the gallows, the structure on
which a hanging takes place. The white fur reveals the mode of
execution that claimed Pluto, and the narrator pledges revenge.
One
day, descending into the cellar of the building with his wife, the
narrator almost trips over the cat. Enraged, the narrator grabs an
axe to attack the cat, but his wife defends the animal. Further
angered by this interference, the narrator turns his rage at his wife
and buries the axe in her head. Faced with the evidence of his crime,
the narrator considers many options for the body’s disposal,
including dismemberment and burial. The narrator eventually decides
to take advantage of the damp walls in the basement and entomb the
body behind their plaster. Without any difficulty, the narrator
creates a tomb in the plaster wall, thereby hiding the body and all
traces of his murder. When he finally turns to the cat, it is
missing, and he concludes that it has been frightened away by his
anger.
On
the fourth day after the murder, the police arrive unexpectedly at
the narrator’s apartment. Cool and collected, the narrator leads
them through the premises, even into the basement. Though facing the
scene of the crime, the police do not demonstrate any curiosity and
prepare to leave the residence. The narrator, however, keeps trying
to allay their suspicion. Commenting upon the solid craftsmanship of
the house, he taps on the wall behind which is his wife’s body with
a cane. In response to the tapping, a long, loud cry emanates from
behind the wall. The police storm the wall and dismantle it,
discovering the hidden corpse. Upon its head sits the missing cat
So
the story deals with the tension between love and hate and that warns
of the dangers of alcohol, a substance to which Poe himself was
addicted for much of his life. The narrator appears at first to love
both his wife and his pets, but by the end of the story his fondness
has turned to neglect, spite, and even hatred, particularly for Pluto
and his successor. Although Poe does not provide a solid explanation
for the narrator's encroaching loss of sanity, perhaps suggesting
that madness might happen at any time to any person, the arrival of
the second cat is closely related to his alcoholism, since he first
finds the cat in a seedy drinking establishment. The second cat
ultimately serves as the facilitator of justice when it reveals the
corpse's hiding place at the end of the tale, and its initial
appearance on top of a hogshead of gin or rum emphasizes its moral
purpose.
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/poestories/section8.rhtml
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