"The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe is a famous American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic from Boston, Massachusetts.  Edgar Allan Poe is considered a Romantic writer, and i believe he is one of the most talented writers of the period. Edgar Allan Poe has always been known for his mysterious and macabre stories.  Poe is won of the first to write the "short story".  The short story "The Black Cat" is a very good example of these characteristics.  "The Black Cat" is a story about a man writing about events that have occurred in his house hold.  These events have ruined and horrified his life.

"The Black Cat" starts out with the narrator talking about the events that he is about to tell the reader about.  The story starts with him talking about his childhood love for animals.  As a child the narrator had many pets and he loved all of the and treated the great and he spent most of his time with them. This love for animals continues to his young marriage.  The narrator and his wife both like animals and they get many pets.  The pets they get are birds, gold-fish, a fine dog, rabbits, a small monkey, and a black cat.  

The black cat is his favorite pet and he treats it like his childhood pets for several years.  The black cat's name is Pluto.  The narrator and the black cats relationship is great, the cat always follows the narrator and he enjoys spending time with the cat.  Eventually the narrator starts getting annoyed by the cats constant presence and with the influence of alcohol one night he grabs the cat by the neck and after being bitten by the cat because of the violence of the narrators action he takes out a pen and carves out one of the black cats eyes.

After awhile the cats eye starts to heel and the cat is not so afraid of the narrator and starts to go near him again.  The narrator finally without reason hangs the cat in the garden with a noose.  Later the same day as the hanging when the narrator is sleeping he wakes up to his house  engulfed in flame.  The narrator and his wife escape the fire and discover a crowed in the burned down house looking at the died cat.  The narrator finds him self lonely and while  living in an apartment he discovers a cat like the black cat in every way but one.  The black cat was all black and the new cat had a white chest.  The new cat and the narrator start out with the same relationship that Pluto and the narrator had in the early years of his marriage.  Then after awhile the same annoying feeling comes to the narrator comes and one day while going to into the cellar the new cat almost trips him and in a crazy rage he grabs and ax and swings at the cats head.  The blow is stopped by his wife, the narrator the takes the ax and swings a violent blow into his wife's brain.  

 The narrator then buries his wife behind the wall in the cellar and the cat is not seen for many days.  Then one day police come to check the house because his wife has been missing.  The police find nothing until the narrator taps on the brick where he re-covered the wall and the cat groans.  The police then break down the wall to find the cat and the wife.  

This is a very good story and i enjoyed reading it.  If you enjoy reading Edgar Allen Poe then you will love this.