Out of all the stories discussed in class, the one that stood out to me the most was “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe. The title of the story is one that I assumed to be sinister, or mysterious. I made this assumption that the “Black Cat” is a symbol of mysterious and sinister events because I watch a lot of movies and shows which portray scenes with black cats. Most of these scenes turn out to have bad endings, which is exactly what happened in this story.

The story has many events to it which contributes to the plot and ending. Throughout the story, we as the readers are able to see the insanity of the narrator and the reason behind his actions. From killing his black cat, Pluto, to later taking inside another black cat and killing his wife, all these events show the result of the narrator’s state of mind in which alcohol consumption plays a major role. What makes this story very interesting to me is the symbol of the black cat. Throughout the story, we see the resemblance of the black cat as being a sort of karma which comes back around at the narrator for all the insane things he did. The white patched fur on the second black cat symbolizes a form of guilt that is put on the narrator because of how it grows into the shape of the narrator’s hanging of Pluto, a black cat which was the narrator’s favorite pet. Also, the appearance of the black cat around the end of the story which leads to the police finding out about the corpse of the narrator’s wife also implies the black cat as being a symbol of unfortunate events.

Overall, this was a very interesting story to read. Edgar Allan Poe’s use of symbols and plot twists in the story gave the readers to have a point of the view of the narrator, and how he experienced the feeling of guilt at the end which led to his death.