The problem is not his drinking, rather the reason why he’s drinking. The reader can infer that there is another problem, more complicated then alcohol. Matheson observes that, “These symptoms can be shown to have appeared at times when alcohol was not involved, the reader must look beyond the alcohol as the sole cause of the behavior and see as well that it may be simply a red herring, at best but one symptom of a deeper illness or problem” (“Temperance Literature”). If the narrator is able to cut out a cat’s eye, the reader can conclude that he is also of the mental state to set his house on fire, kill his wife, and put Pluto’s body inside a wall in the house. The reader finds out that the narrator is not as innocent as he tries to come off as being. The narrator is repeatedly using alcohol as a convenient excuse and an easy way out making sure he doesn’t have to take responsibility. Then I deliberately cut one of its eyes out of his sockets” (5). Poe conveys the theme again when he writes, “My disease grew worse – for there is no disease like alcoholism.I grabbed the poor cat by the throat. Since this is in the first couple of paragraphs, the reader can conclude that the first thing Poe wants the reader to know about the narrator is that he doesn’t think he is crazy, almost foreshadowing that his mental state will be in question later. The narrator emphasizes his sanity in order to get sympathy from his readers for his alcohol problem so he can more easily blame his behavior on the alcohol. Poe firsts uses point of view in the very beginning when the narrator says, “I am not mad” (3). First person point of view effectively communicates the theme by showing how the narrator is going mad and how he blames his corrupting mental state on alcohol. Poe conveys this message through point of view, irony and symbolism. Therefore, it is evident that Poe uses certain literary elements to create a theme of, alcohol is a scapegoat used by individuals with an evil nature to excuse inappropriate behavior.

The story concludes with the narrator urging the police to find his wife’s body.īy the time they do, the narrator has gone completely crazy, still excusing his mental state for his alcohol problem and refusing to take responsibility. Both characters end up getting abused and killed by the narrator who blames the murders on the alcohol and not his corrupted state of mind. The reader is introduced to the narrator’s beloved cat, Pluto, and his wife with whom he was very close. He emphasizes that he is not crazy and sincerely loves animals, but as the story gets deeper into the plot, you can clearly see that he is mad and the effect his craziness has on his disposition is severe. In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat”, the narrator uses alcohol as an excuse for his misbehavior. Point of View, Irony and Symbolism in “The Black Cat” Analysis

The black cat allan poe