The Black Cat (Poe)

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Edgar Allan Poe

The Black Cat

1845 

Summary of the Short Story

Microsummary: A man, fond of animals, became an alcoholic and mistreated his pets. After killing his cat, he accidentally killed his wife and hid her body. The cat's cries revealed his crime.

A man, known for his love of animals, had a variety of pets, including a black cat named Pluto.

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Pluto — the narrator's black cat; initially his favorite pet; becomes a victim of the narrator's violence and is killed by him.

Over time, the man became an alcoholic, which led to a change in his temperament. He became moody, irritable, and violent, often mistreating his pets. However, he still had a soft spot for Pluto and refrained from hurting him.

One night, after a bout of heavy drinking, the man became enraged when he thought Pluto was avoiding him. In his anger, he grabbed the cat and, in the process, was bitten on the hand. This caused him to lose control and, using a pen-knife, he cut out one of Pluto's eyes.

I took from my waistcoat-pocket a pen-knife, opened it, grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket!

The next morning, he felt a mix of horror and remorse for his actions, but soon drowned these feelings in alcohol.

As Pluto recovered, the man's guilt and shame prevented him from physically abusing the cat further. However, his hatred for the animal grew, and he eventually decided to hang it from a tree. That same night, a fire broke out in the man's house, destroying everything he owned. He, his wife, and a servant barely escaped with their lives.

In the aftermath of the fire, the man discovered an image of a cat with a noose around its neck on one of the remaining walls. He rationalized this as a result of someone throwing the dead cat through a window during the fire, causing it to become embedded in the plaster.

Haunted by the memory of Pluto, the man sought out a replacement cat. He found one that closely resembled Pluto, except for a white patch on its chest. This new cat quickly became a favorite of the man's wife.

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The Wife — the narrator's wife; kind-hearted, animal lover; patient and uncomplaining sufferer of her husband's violent outbursts; ultimately killed by the narrator.

However, the man himself grew to despise it. He discovered that, like Pluto, this cat was also missing an eye, which only fueled his hatred.

The man's hatred for the cat intensified, and he began to avoid it at all costs. One day, while in the cellar with his wife, the cat nearly tripped him, causing him to fly into a rage. He grabbed an axe to kill the cat, but his wife intervened. In his fury, he turned the axe on her, killing her instantly.

I withdrew my arm from her grasp and buried the axe in her brain. She fell dead upon the spot, without a groan.

To hide his crime, the man decided to wall up his wife's body in the cellar. He carefully removed bricks, placed the body inside, and then replaced the bricks, making sure the wall looked undisturbed. He felt confident that his crime would remain undiscovered.

However, unbeknownst to him, the cat had been walled up with the body. When the police came to investigate the wife's disappearance, they searched the house thoroughly but found nothing. As they were about to leave, the man, in a fit of bravado, knocked on the wall where his wife's body was hidden. The cat's cries from within the wall alerted the police, who then discovered the hidden corpse. The man was arrested and confessed to his crimes.