Symbolism In The Black Cat

In short story “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe, symbolism serves as a powerful vehicle towards the grander theme. Poe uses the second black cats as a symbol for guilt to convey the theme that one cannot avoid guilt because shame and conviction will always follow a person until justice is reconciled. The black cat with the white mark represents what happens when conviction creeps into one’s life and becomes so unbearable that guilt will temporarily disappear only to return with a ravishing hunger for justice. The black cat is initially introduced as an odd and intriguing happenstance. The black cat seemingly appears out of nowhere, and the landlord knows nothing about the cat’s origins (721). When the narrator stumbles upon the second black

When he attempts to end the cat with an axe, the creature, like guilt, is unable to be destroyed. Instead, the axe falls on his wife. Since the narrator cannot end his source of guilt, he takes his frustration out on his wife and murders her. After this second act of killing the innocent, the black cat disappears. The narrator only feels a hint of guilt and no embarrassment. That night, he “…slept even with the burden of murder upon [his] soul” (723). He is so far gone into his sin that he no longer feels convicted or ashamed of his

When the police inspect the house for the missing wife, the narrator acts very carefree and unapologetic; in front of the officers, he hits the wall where his wife lies behind. At this moment, guilt finally comes rushing back with a mighty vengeance for justice. There is “…a cry, at first muffled…and a continuous scream, utterly anomalous and inhumane—a howl—a wailing shriek, half of horror and half of triumph…” (724). The narrator compares this scream to demons in eternal damnation, and this marks the climax of guilt. The officers quickly dismantled the wall, and the black cat stands on top of the corpse’s head. The narrator meets his inevitable consequences with the final words, “…the hideous beast…had seduced me to murder, and whose informing voice had consigned me to the hangman. I had walled the monster up within the tomb!” (724). Guilt finally obtained the retribution it craved for so long. The second black cat acts as a symbol for guilt in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat.” The cat helps express the theme that guilt is inescapable and that shame and conviction will always follow a person until justice is reconciled. Even though guilt needs retribution, guilt still gives the narrator two choices; he could continue to live in sin or repent for his wicked deeds. The narrator decides to stay in his wickedness,