The Black Cat, By Edgar Allan Poe

Poe's hunted soul has enabled him to manifest such dark, mysterious stories. But no one thought of him as an odd animal lover; one with a twisted heart of gold. In the short story "The Black Cat" the plot seems to be dripping with the illusion of what Freud would consider a dream, but there is more to the cat then what the dream convey to be. Beyond the chilling tale, "The Black Cat" is a tale about the narrator's character, dreams, and psychosis, all processed through a Freudian framework. The narrator's character has been layered in order for him to comfort himself in his time of need. For starter, the narrator's love the animals. During his youth, and even after marriage, the Narrator was surrounded by animals. He states in the text, "I was especially fond of animals, and was indulged by my parents with a great variety of pets" (Poe 216) to allow the reader to understand the complexity of his love towards animals. Later on, the narrator states, "Observing my partiality for domestic pets, [his wife] lost
Alcohol seems to be infused in his life and finds to be very untrustworthy for him. The story foretells the fact that when the narrator over indulges in drinks, the consequences or often nearby. The first time the readers understand of him over drinking we learn that the cat is near, and suffers. The narrator states, "But my disease grew upon me—for what disease is like Alcohol! . . . even Pluto began to experience the effects of my ill temper" (Poe 219) this would introduce us to the real kind of narrator of the story. Also, the reason for drinking is not clear, but suggested because of some repressed memory that might have happened and now is coming out as symptoms in which the narrator decides best to relinquish his thoughts and drink away, and with this, his feelings for other start to drown out as well. Although he and his wife fought, the first to really suffer was the cat, Pluto. Poe