Black Cat by Edgar Allen

Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe

The short story by one of the masters of horror fiction, Edgar Allen Poe, is intended both to shock as well as educate.

While the story has all the ingredients of horror and fantasy, yet one of the central aims of the story is to remind us of the importance of not losing our sense of humanity and compassion.

The story describes the life of a man who sinks into a state of alcoholism and debauchery and who changes from a kind and considerate human being to a virtual monster; who has no feelings of compassion or mercy for his wife and even for the harmless animals who live in his house. The central theme of this story, which will be explored in this essay, is that the real nature of true horror and terror does not necessarily exist outside of ourselves or in the dark night, but can exist within the human heart. This story therefore explores the horror of the cruel nature which is sometimes revealed within ordinary human beings.

The story begins with a careful and extensive description of the central character before his fall into debauchery and decadence. This is an important part of the story as it provides us with a stark contrast to the creature that the narrator and central character is later to become. As the narrator states "From my infancy I was noted for the docility and humanity of my disposition. My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions. I was especially fond of animals, and was indulged by my parents with a great variety of pets." (Poe, E.A.) it is also important that this character maintains that he loves animals, especially his pet black cat, Pluto. The cat will prove be a central focus of story.

However, this description of a congenial, kind and balanced human nature is sharply contrasted with the description that is given of the same character after he begins to drink heavily. There is a profound change in his nature. "I grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others. I suffered myself to use intemperate language to my at length, I even offered her personal violence. My pets, of course, were made to feel the change in my disposition. I not only neglected, but ill-used them." (Poe, E.A.) the character takes out his bad nature and cruelty on the animals and especially on the black cat, Pluto, whom he blinds in one eye. We begin to realize that the true "monster" in this horror story is perverted human nature and the way that the main character becomes worse than any beast.

A central part of the short story is the exploration of the way that human beings change and become terrifying contradictions of their former selves. The author attempts to explain this transformation. It is made clear in the story that this change has no rational cause or explanation and is a result of a certain "perversity" in humanity. This is a tendency in human nature to do bad things just for the sake of being evil.

In other words, throughout the story the author is suggesting that there is a tendency in humanity towards evil.

This is an important aspect as it reveals the darkness that sometimes lies hidden in the human heart and which can emerge even in the most docile and kind people. As the central character states; "...yet I am not more sure that my soul lives, than I am that perverseness is one of the primitive impulses of the human heart --one of the indivisible primary faculties, or sentiments, which give direction to the character of Man." (Poe, E.A.) Perversity is described in the following way by the narrator. "It was this unfathomable longing of the soul to vex itself --to offer violence to its own nature --to do wrong for the wrong's sake only..." (Poe, E.A.)

This perversity in human nature causes the narrator to hang the cat - an act of unbridled cruelty and brutality which has no rational explanation except that the potential for such action lies hidden within human nature.

The rest of the story follows the pattern of retribution for the sins of the man. After the killing of Pluto the house burns down, leaving only one wall in which the cat has somehow strangely become embedded. There is no easy explanation for this event and it emphasizes the supernatural aspect of the story.

The main character returns to his drinking habits and one evening while drinking he sees a cat similar to Pluto. There are remnants of guilt and human conscience in the man and he takes the cat home with him. However, he starts to hate and fear the cat and there is a suggestion that guilt plays a large part in these feelings. The more the cat shows affection towards him, the more his hatred grows.

This is exacerbated by the fact that a white area of fur on the cat begins to grow and starts to resemble an image of a gallows; which further evokes terror in the man

The protagonist's old cruel nature reasserts itself and in an attempt to kill the cat with an ax he inadvertently kills his wife. He walls her body up in the cellar. However when the police arrive to investigate, his crime almost escapes detection. At the last moment a strange and inhuman sound is heard from the part of the cellars wall where the corpse of the man's wife has been interred. This unearthly noise is made by the black cat, which had somehow been walled up with the wife. This obviously alerts the police and the central character is arrested. The story also suggests that the main character tells his tale from within a prison and that he waits execution at the gallows for his crimes.

Throughout the story there is a comparison between two aspects of human nature. These two aspects however are seen to exist within the same human being.