The Black Cat Insanity

“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe is a short, horror story. The narrator, who is sentenced to death, reflects on his life and the decent of his character from young boy to murderer. He describes himself as growing up a mild, young sensitive boy. He marries young and introduces his wife to his love of pets. Ultimately the narrator begins drinking too much and becomes an alcoholic. The alcoholism changes his personality and he becomes increasingly violent towards his wife and all their pets. But he remains non-violent towards his favorite cat, Pluto.

Eventually the narrator’s inner rage causes him to poke out one of Pluto’s eyes because he felt ignored. After that incident, the cat avoids him, but this also drives him mad, so he ties a rope

His actions were intended to inflict harm on his victims to satisfy his evil rage. His rage is caused by alcohol, which is not considered an excuse for insanity. While jailed, and presumed sober, he is very clear about his actions and his level of responsibility. He even provides testimony that he is not insane. An insane person would not be able to articulate the story with such clarity. In addition, there is no evidence in the testimony that leads the reader to believe the narrator is unable to control his rage. He apparently did not display this rage with the general public, but only with those who were most loyal to

This is evidenced by his desire to hide the crime. He considered many options of how to dispose of the body without being caught. “…I set myself forthwith, and with entire deliberation, to the task of concealing the body. I knew that I could not remove it from the house, either by day or by night, without the risk of being observed by the neighbors.” With great care and attention to detail, he completed the work necessary to hide the body in the basement plaster, creating her tomb, “By means of a crowbar I easily dislodged the bricks, and, having carefully deposited the body against the inner wall, I propped it in that position, while with little trouble I relaid the whole structure as it originally stood. Having procured mortar, sand and hair, with every possible precaution, I prepared a plaster which could not be distinguished from the old, and with this I very carefully went over the new brick-work. When I had finished, I felt satisfied that all was right.” He lied to the police about the murder on several occasions and even became so confident that he tapped on the very wall where the body was hidden. “I delight to have allayed your suspicions.” “…and here, through the mere frenzy of bravado, I rapped heavily with a cane…” Clearly the narrator was aware he had committed a crime that needed to be