Symbolism In The Black Cat

Another example of symbolism used in the story is when the shapeless splotch of white hair on the black cat is signified as a structure to hang criminals, bringing the narrator into madness by the cat’s physique, During one night drunk at a tavern, the narrator who had just finished off Pluto finds a cat who looked exactly like the one he had killed, but with a minor difference, just a white shapeless splotch on its breast. Noticing its affection for him, he took the cat in as his pet, but soon found himself being annoyed by it, and then that feeling turned into hatred. However, he still kept it as a pet until he nervously and frantically realized the white splotch actually meant. He said, “This object, above all, made me hate and dread the monster. I would have gotten rid of it had I

dared. The white patch was not the image of an awful-- of a ghastly thing! It was the GALLOWS! --the sad and terrible machine of Horror and of Crime, of Agony, and of Death (Poe 52)!” The black cat had a splotch of white hair that took the shape of a gallows, to remind the narrator of his crimes he has committed. It signifies his death by hanging, as he was later caught of his crime and sentenced to death in which the black cat stood at the corpse in sight of this. Furthermore, it teaches a lesson to be wary of your perverseness, and that whatever crime is committed will never go unpunished, whether it be imprisonment or even living your whole life with guilt, dealing with yourself as a murderer. Through symbolism, it gives objects and such deep meaning in future events that will show the consequences by not being wary of your life decisions, leading to your outbreak of your perverseness.
Personification gives a lifeless object, animal, or idea humanlike qualities to display just how difficult it is to refrain from doing the wrong and why you should be more careful of the choices you make before its influence ultimately releases your perverseness. One example of personification used in the story is to show his perverseness taking over him without him consciously letting it do so, leading to the death of Pluto by his own hands. During the rising action of the story, the narrator began consuming alcohol, which led to his physical abuse against his animals and to his wife.

At one night, he cut off Pluto’s eye, which would develop into his perverseness leaking out. Finally, the perverseness has all but taken over him, “As I said, this spirit of perverseness finally defeated me. My soul longed to torment itself--to be violent to itself--to do wrong just for the sake of doing wrong. This mysterious longing urged me to continue and finally to finish the injury to the innocent brute. One morning in cold blood, I slipped a noose about its neck and hung it from the limb of a tree. I hung it with tears streaming from my eyes and with bittersweet remorse (Poe 24-25).” This quote shows the result of his alcoholism, which is his outburst of perverseness into his murder of his cat Pluto. Additionally, the term “finally defeated me” explains how he has always had it like anyone else would, but his has grown formidable enough to take over him, since he killed Pluto knowing how sad he would be by its death. It exhibits how if you are not wary of yourself turning evil, whether or not you or happy about what you are doing, it could lead to an unfavorable outcome. Another example of personification used in the story is to show perverseness as the only

thing that can cope with him when he realized his crimes, to show how far he has fallen down in humanity, and that he can no longer climb back up to how he used to be. During the story, the narrator had been drunk at a tavern again after the events of him physically abusing those around him and murdering his cat Pluto. He spots a black cat who was nearly identical to the one he had murdered, Pluto, so he took it in as a pet but soon found himself annoyed by it, and later loathe and despised it. After discovering the true meaning by the white splotch of hair on the cat, he started to fear it leading to this, “Under the pressure of these torments, the last little bit of good within me disappeared. Evil thoughts became my only friends--the darkest and most evil of thoughts. My usual moodiness increased until I hated everything and everyone. I did not even try to control my many sudden outbursts of anger. My uncomplaining wife was usually the victim of my fury (Poe 55).” By personifying his “evil thoughts” as his only friends, it showed his loneliness and him accepting his perverseness. When faced with the truth that he is a criminal, his perverseness would take over him completely, losing all the little bits of remorse and guilt he had for others. Due to this, he would later find himself murdering his wife in pure anger. As shown numerous times, if he had just avoided alcohol in the beginning, none of these terrible things would happen to him and those around him. Personification brings perverseness as a sort of demon and companion for the narrator as he struggles to cope with what’s right or wrong, ultimately choosing it as his companion and leading to serious consequences.
By looking at irony, symbolism, and personification in this story by Poe, one can see that everyone has the spirit of perverseness, which is important because one must be careful of the choices they make in life. Irony is used in the story to better grasp how big of an influence perverseness has on someone, which dissipates bonds between one another. On the other hand, symbolism is applied in the story to show the black cat as sort of a grim reaper for the narrator after all the crimes he has committed. Personification is utilized in the story to show how difficult it is to escape the spirit of perverseness, and why you should make the right choices before things get out of hand. In the story “The Black Cat,” much like Poe’s other stories about the macabre and/or mystery, are largely influenced by his tragic and unfortunate life plagued by alcohol, blood, death, and poverty. His argument of perverseness and the choices you make in life is something he has experienced before, and he creates this story to indirectly warn readers about this, so they won’t make the same mistake he had done with his life. With the choice only given to you, how will you shape your life?