One day, in cold blood, the narrator slipped a noose around the animal’s neck and hung it on the limb of a tree. He saw this as “one of the primitive impulses of the human heart… Who has not, a hundred times, found himself committing a vile or a silly action, for no other reason than he knows he should not?” The narrator finally felt that the spirit of perverseness had inexorably come upon him. He hid from the narrator, which first saddened the narrator but then made him irritated and angry. The next morning, the narrator felt ashamed of what he’d done and swore he would be better. One night, the narrator felt convicted that Pluto was avoiding him feeling a surge of drunken rage, he picked up a knife and cut out one of the cat’s eyes. He also lashed out at his pets, though for a while his love for the black cat left that animal unscathed.Įventually, even Pluto felt the narrator’s wrath. He became day by day “more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others.” He cursed his wife and eventually came to inflict violence upon her. Over time, the narrator’s temperament changed. The cat was named Pluto and he was the narrator’s favorite pet. The narrator and his wife loved the cat, but his wife often, albeit jokingly, referenced the old adage that black cats were witches in disguise. One of the pets was a beautiful black cat without a single white bit of fur. When he married, it was to a woman with the same disposition as him, and they had many pets.
He never felt happier than when he was caressing an animal. All he wants to do now is unburden his soul and lay before the reader “a series of mere household events.” To him, they seem to be nothing but horror, but perhaps someday someone can explain them away by natural causes and effects.įrom childhood, the narrator was known for his docility and compassion, particularly towards animals. He knows his narrative will invite disbelief, but he promises he is neither lying nor dreaming.
The narrator is giving his story while in jail he is going to be put to death tomorrow.
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