The police are on it. They take down the wall only to find the dead body, with the cat on top of its head. And that's why the narrator is in jail, sentenced to death by hanging.
The narrator had accidentally shut the cat up in the wall with the body
.
Is the narrator of The Black Cat in jail?
The
unnamed narrator
in Edgar Allan Poe's “The Black Cat” is sitting in a prison cell, awaiting execution for the brutal ax murder of his wife. He killed her in a fit of rage, probably induced by a toxic combination of alcohol and mental illness.
What happens to the narrator in The Black Cat?
How does the narrator die in the black cat? Thinking Pluto didn't want to hang out with him,
he grabs the cat and cuts his eye out with a pen-knife
. One morning, not long after the eye-gouging, the narrator is overcome with a perverse impulse. He hangs Pluto from a tree in his garden, murdering him.
How is the narrator's house destroyed in The Black Cat?
In “The Black Cat,” after the narrator cuts an eye out of the black cat that follows him around then hangs him in the garden, his
house catches fire and burns down–except for the wall directly
behind his bed.
Did the narrator regret killing his wife explain?
Because it takes the burden of killing his wife off his shoulders. Did the narrator regret killing his wife? Explain.
He did not regret killing his wife because he is insane and doesn't feel remorse.
Why is the ending of The Black Cat ironic?
A final, horrifying touch of irony happens when
the narrator tries to murder his cat with an ax
. She grabs the ax to stop him, assuming that she will be safe from harm. … The irony here is that while trying to save the life of the cat, she loses her own.
How does the narrator behave in The Black Cat?
The narrator commits
heinous acts while drunk
and although he feels remorse his guilt fuels paranoia and his actions pave the way to madness and self-destruction.
What events does The Black Cat prove?
The superstition of the narrator's wife in “The Black Cat” that cats are witches in disguise seems to be proved correct when
their house catches fire the night after the narrator kills Pluto by hanging him from a tree
.
What details in The Black Cat indicate the narrator may be unreliable?
The narrator of the story “The Black Cat” can certainly be considered unreliable
due to his alcoholism and his account of his sudden and drastic change in character
. Formerly, the narrator had been known as an uniquely kind and compassionate man, particularly toward animals.
What caught on fire in The Black Cat?
He hangs Pluto from a tree in his garden, murdering him. Writing from his jail cell, the narrator claims he did it precisely because he knew it was wrong. That night, the night of the murder,
the man's house
catches fire and burns down.
What does the cat symbolize in The Black Cat?
Superstition: The black cat is
an omen of bad luck
, a theme that runs throughout literature. Murder and death: Death is the central focus of the entire story.
What does the narrator first do to The Black Cat after he comes home drunk one night?
What does the narrator first do to the black cat after he comes home drunk one night?
He cuts the cat's eye out after the cat bites him.
How does the narrator feel after killing his wife in the Black Cat?
The narrator is telling the story because
of the terrible burden of guilt he feels over his crimes
. One of these is of course the murder of his wife but he feels perhaps just as guilty about his treatment of Pluto, his most beloved pet. He recounts that these events “have tortured” him and “have destroyed” him.
How does the fact that the narrator kills his wife instead of the cat add to the meaning of the story?
How does the fact that the narrator kills his wife instead of the cat add to the meaning of the story?
It shows that he has no remorse for anything anymore. It also shows that his love for the cat may have been stronger than he made it out to be.
Why did the narrator remove Pluto's eye?
Removing the cat's eye is the beginning of
the end
, so to speak, for the narrator. Until that moment, the cat had thus far escaped his drunken cruelty, so this act signifies that the narrator had reached a certain mental point: there were no longer any limits to his violent behavior.
What does the wall symbolize in the Black Cat?
The wall did not present the slightest appearance of having been disturbed. So, the wall then seems to operate symbolically as
the attempt of the narrator to conceal his actions and to get away with his crime.
