"The Black Cat"

"The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe is a dark tale of an insane man who turns from being a loving pet owner to eventually a murderer of one cat, attempted murderer of another cat, and the murderer of his own wife. The protagonist changes dramatically through the course of the story, and all of the changes are brought on by the actions of Pluto, his first cat, and his second cat.

It is amazing how the man can go from loving his cat so much to detesting it once he gets drunk. Poe definitely has a negative view towards alcohol as is seen through the story. The negative things that the narrator does mostly come after the man has been drinking.

The ending of the story was very ironic. Although I figured out where the cat was prior to Poe's explanation, it was still a shock to have him tell the readers that the cat too was inside the wall. It only seems appropriate that this is where the cat was after all the trouble the owner puts the cat through.

I enjoyed this story. Although it was written in the vernacular of the 19th century, it still relevant today, compared to some other stories written in that time period. I can easily picture a detective drama about this story made for television. The story was very fast moving and did not have the long lull's in action like "Sleepy Hollow."