Summary

“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe is written as a personal confession of a man sentenced to death. This man has been an animal lover since he was a child and has treasured the company of pets more than that of humans. The narrator marries a woman who also loves animals, and she soon brings various types of pets in their house. However, the man’s favourite pet is a black cat named Pluto.

As the years go by, the narrator starts drinking a lot and his personality changes. He becomes abusive and violent towards his pets and his wife. One night, coming home drunk, he cuts one of Pluto’s eyes out. He regrets his deed for a while, but soon he acts according to what he says to be the ingrained perverseness of his soul, and he decides to hang the cat. The narrator’s house burns down that night. All that remains of his ...