The Black Cat
... grabbed Pluto, he was furious that Pluto had been avoiding him. Pluto bit him on his hand because he was scared. The narrator was furious at Pluto for biting him. The narrator took a penknife from his waistcoat-pocket and grabbed Pluto by the throat and intentionally cut one of Pluto’s eyes from the socket. The cat slowly recovered from the narrator’s torture, only to be faced with yet another senseless act of violence. One morning, in cold blood, the narrator slipped a noose around Pluto’s neck and hung the helpless cat from a tree limb. As the narrator hung Pluto, tears ran down his face. The narrator knew that he had committed a sin and it would jeopardize his immortal soul. That night, the narrator was awakened by fire. The curtains of the bed were aflame. The narrator, his wife, and the servant narrowly escaped the burning home. The blazing flames destroyed the home. The next day, the narrator returned to the ruins. Upon arrival, he seen a dense crowd surrounding the only standing wall left of his home. The portion of the wall left standing was the part that rested against the headboard of the narrator’s bed. Around the wall the crowd was examining a particular portion of the wall. The narrator could hear the words “strange” and “singular” from the crowd. The narrator was curious why the crowd was excited about the piece of wall that was left standing. The narrator went over to examine the wall. To The narrator’s astonishment, there was a figure of a gigantic cat upon the white surface. There was a rope around the cat’s neck. The narrator thought someone from the crowd must have thrown it there. One night, the narrator was in a den, half drunk when he spotted a black object upon one of the hogsheads of gin. The narrator approached the object, and to his amazement discovered it was a black cat. The cat resembled Pluto in every respect except one. The cat had a large splotch of white fur covering his chest. The narrator touched the cat and the cat arose and purred loudly. The narrator offered to purchase the cat, but the landlord made no claim to the cat. The cat accompanied the narrator home. The cat settled in with the rest of the pets and became a favorite with the narrator’s wife. Soon the narrator found himself disliking the new cat. The cat adored the narrator and followed him around the house. The narrator was annoyed and disgusted with the new cat. The narrator found himself feeling shame for the bad deed he inflicted on Pluto. The narrator began avoiding the cat. He also discovered the cat was missing an eye; this only endeared the cat to his wife. The narrator began loathing the cat. At times, he wanted to destroy the cat, but memories of his former crime stopped him. One day, his wife accompanied the narrator to the cellar on a household errand. The cat almost made the narrator fall down the stairs. The narrator was furious at the cat. He picked up an axe was attempting to strike the animal. The narrator’s wife stopped him. The narrator then struck his wife in the brain with the axe, killing her instantly. The narrator was puzzled about how to dispose of his wife’s body. If he attempted to remove the body, the neighbors would see him. He thought of cutting it up in pieces and destroying them with fire. He thought of many ways of destroying the body. He decided to wall it up in the cellar as the Monks of the Middle Ages walled up their victims. With a crowbar, the narrator ...