In Edgar Allen Poe's, The Black Cat, an unnamed narrator tells the tale of his slide into insanity on the eve of his execution. Although he claims that he is not mad, the story he tells and the acts he has done show otherwise. His use of alcohol is one of the factors he blames his violent mood swings on, but then there is also a supernatural aspect in Pluto, the narrator's pet black cat that always seems to bring trouble to the narrator. Any harm the narrator puts upon the black cat always ends up worse off for him. This slip into madness from peaceful animal loving man to a short tempered and violent criminal is accompanied and aided by the supernatural element of the black cat, and the narrator's excessive alcohol use. And the true reason why the narrator becomes insane is left uncertain.

Before telling about his fall into madness, the narrator showcases his peaceful nature stating he was "noted for the docility and humanity of my disposition"(Poe, 2). He also states his love for animals and how he was at his happiest when he was with them. This shows his initial disposition was one of compassion and kindness, yet he becomes the polar opposite of what he describes himself as in the beginning of the story. 

The drastic change in the narrator's actions and thoughts at first he blames on alcohol. The first outburst he has in when he comes home from a drunken stupor and gouges Pluto's eye out because the cat had scratched him. This is the turning point moment in the story where the narrator's actions increasingly get worse to the point where he murder's his own wife in a fit a rage. In every rage filled action, there is alcohol involved. The narrator blames many of the horrible things he does while under the influence of alcohol but the alcohol only serves as an aid to his evil actions. It is not the alcohol making him do these things, but he, himself who does them. After gauging the cat's eye out, the narrator claims he still "had so much of my own heart left."(Poe, 9), meaning he feels remorse for what he has done and still wishes to be kind to the animal. However, these feelings change in a drastic way for the narrator soon becomes angry again, highlighted by the quote, "And then came, as if to my final and irrevocable overthrow, the spirit of PERVERSENESS. Of this spirit philosophy takes no account. Yet I am not more sure that my soul lives, than I am that perverseness is one of the primitive impulses of the human heart"(Poe, 9). What the narrator is saying with this quote is that it is natural instinct for humans to think perversely, but most people are able to stop themselves from acting on their thoughts because they have self-control and are sane. The narrator however, has little self-control over his temper and his horrible thoughts. This, accompanied with alcohol consumption, which lowers inhibitions and makes people act on their thoughts without thinking about the consequences, is a bad recipe for a man who frequently has horrible thoughts and wants to do terrible deeds just for the sake of doing terrible deeds.

Soon after the narrators talk of letting his soul "vex itself- to offer violence to its on nature"(Poe, 9). He hangs the innocent cat for no other reason than carry out a perverse act. Poe uses repetition of the word "because"(Poe, 9) to highlight the senseless reasons the narrator uses for hanging the cat. These reasons include, knowing that the cat had loved him, knowing that the cat had given him no reason for offense, and finally knowing that by hanging the cat the narrator was committing a sin that would jeopardize his soul. To a sane person, all of these are reasons not to kill the innocent cat but rather to love and cherish the cat. 

It is ambiguous whether it is some supernatural power of the black cat that is making the narrator act the way he does, or whether it is just the narrator going on violent drunken binges. But any time the cat is treated poorly, the narrator pays for it dearly. For example, when he hangs the cat, that very night, his house burns to the ground and all that is left standing is a wall with a figure of a cat. This is the first sign of the supernatural presence of the cat. The narrator refuses to believe there is some type of cause and effect between his house burning down and the death of his cat so the reader is left to wonder whether it is the black cat causing his misfortune or himself. But further evidence suggests his horrific actions are related to the cat. When the narrator brings the second cat home, he expects to feel some type of compassion for the animal, but yet again he is thrown into a deep hatred of it. Upon realizing the new cat is missing an eye like Pluto did, and that the white mark on the cat's back resembles the gallows, the narrator is thrown into even more of a hatred of the animal. This speaks to the supernatural powers of the cat once again. The black cat is always around when the narrator loses his temper and acts upon it. The narrator is sure that the black cat is the cause of all his feelings of perverseness and is connected to his misdeeds. The last straw, which causes him to snap, is when he murders his wife in cold blood solely because she tried to stop him from killing the cat. The cat, however, has the last laugh as it draws the investigators attention to his entombed wife in the basement. This shows either the complete success of the cat in ruining his life, or his complete loss of sanity.

The narrator is sure that it is the black cat causing all of his distress, but it is never confirmed whether there is a connection between the cat and his misdeeds. So it is purposefully left ambiguous by Poe for the reader to decide whether the narrator has simply lost his mind or whether the black cat is tormenting him. On one side, there is evidence of the cat being a supernatural being whose purpose seems to be only to torment and drive the narrator into madness. But on the other hand, the narrator can also simply be seen as an alcoholic who has no self-control and turns violent when he goes on drunken stupors. Both options are possible and in the end it makes no difference as to the outcome of the narrator. Whether it be by alcohol, or by some other forces, his actions send him to the gallows.

