Edgar Allan Poe Black Cat

(anglicky/slovensky)
1. Author’s name: Edgar Allan Poe
2. Notes on the author, his life and time:
3. Title: Black Cat
4. Published by: Mystic Press, London
Date of publication: 1987
Number of pages: 10, hardback
Part of series of matching novels: no
5. Genre:
A: short-story
B: thriller
C: Account for the choices made under 5A+5B:
5A: The Black Cat is definitely a short story, because of number of it’s pages.
5B: I chose thriller because the story is very thrilling. 6. Structure of the work
a) division into:
b) itroduction:
social setting:
geographical setting:
historical setting:
c) initial incident:
Pokazený alkoholom, muž týra svoje zvieratá. Svojmu obľúbenému kocúrovi Plutovi, v alkoholovom
opojení vylúpne oko z jamky. Alkoholizmus spôsobí, že ho posadne zvrátenosť. Pod jej vplyvom ho obesí
na strom. Neskôr v krčme nájde daľšieho kocúra a ten bude spôsobovať veľa nepríjemností, až ho úplne
zničí.
Spoilt by alcohol, man maltreats his pets. He cuts eye of his favorite cat Pluto in intoxication. Alcoholism
causes, that he gets obsessed by perverseness. Under it’s thumb he hangs his cat on the tree. Later, he
found another cat in the pub. It makes him much trouble, until it ruins him completely.
d) climax:
Muž sa v zúrivosti snaží kocúra zabiť sekerou. Jeho manželka sa mu v tom snaží zabrániť. V zúrivosti
však nevie čo robí a zatne jej sekeru do hlavy.
The man in fury tries to kill the cat with axe. His wife tries to restrain it. In fury, he doesn’t know what
he does and jams the axe to her head.

7. Account for the title and/or subtitle and their relevance to the work:
Black Cat je vhodný názov, pretože čierny kocúr ktorý sa mstí za zločiny spáchané na svojom kolegovi sa
môže považovať za hlavného hrdinu poviedky.
Black cat is a very suitable title, because the character of black cat, who revenges for crimes performed
at his mate can be considered as main character of the story.

8. Themes of the work:

- Revenge
- Murder and it’s disclosure
- Alcoholism, and it’s consequences
- Maltreatment of animals
- Animal spirit and intelligece

9. Subject-matter:
Pomsta zvieraťa, ktoré odpláca zločiny a krivdy spáchané na jeho druhoch.
A revenge of animal, which repays crimes and injuries commited on it’s mates.

10. Characters:
a) Mention the main characters and describe them briefly:
Drunkard (narrator):
Muž asi v strednom veku. Kým prepadol alkoholu mával rád zvieratá. Táto záľuba má korene ešte v jeho
mladosti, keď sa moc nehrával s ostatními deťmi, ale viac sa venoval zvieratám.

Jeho najobĺúbenejším mazlíčkom bol jeho čierny kocúr. Potom začal veľa piť a začal zanedbávať a potom
aj týrať svoje zvieratá. Počas rozprávania deja (v triezvom stave) sa celý čas ospravedlňuuje a ľutuje to,
čo spravil. Svoju ženu mal pravdepodobne rád, zabil ju len nehodou v návale zúrivosti.
Man in about middle age. Until he abandoned alcohol he used to like animals. This hobby has roots in his
childhood, when not playing with other children, he addicted hisself to animals. His favorite pet was his
black cat. Then he began drinking very much, kicking around his pets and soon also maltreating them.
During narration of story (in sober state) he apologizes all the time and regret what he did. He probably
liked his wife, he killed her just in fit of fury.
b) Mention the important minor characters and describe them briefly:
11. The way the story is told: I-narration
12. Types of language used: Everyday language
13. Notes on the use of symbols:
black cat – symbol of revenge
14. Review:
Počas čítania tejto knihy som mal veľmi zvláštne pocity. Na začiatku som si myslel, že ten kto bude trpieť
bude ten muž. Potom, ako začal rozprávať ako ho alkohol zmenil a čo robil som nevedel, na ktorú stranu
sa mám pridať. Všetku vinu dával alkoholu a on ako keby nič nespravil a celý čas sa ospravedlňoval. Na
druhej strane som videl tie krutosti ktoré páchal na tej nevinnej mačke. Ďaľšou vecou, ktorá vzbudila vo
mne zvláštny pocit bolo to že sa tam písalo, že tá mačka ho mala rada. Mala ho rada aj potom, keď jej
vylúpol oko a aj počas toho ako ju vešal. Tá to poviedka bola pre mňa zaujímavá hlavne tým, že som
nevedel na nikoho jednoznačne zvaliť vinu. Aj keď hlavná postava - alkoholik zasekol sekeru do hlavy
svojej ženy, hovoril, že to bolo v zúrivosti z tej mačky.
I had very weird feelings during reading of this book. In the beginning I thaught that the suffering one
would be the man. After he began talking how alcohol had changed him and what he had been doing, I
didn’t know whoose quarrel do I have to take up. He found all fault with alcohol and he apologized all
time. On the other side I saw the severity violated on the innocent cat. Another thing, which inducted
strange feeling in me, was the fact, that the cat loved him. It loved him even after he cut it’s eye and
while he was hanging it. The story was very interresting for me, mainly because I didn’t know exactly
fasten the blame on anyone. Even when the drunkard jammed the axe to head of his wife, it was just in
fury due to the cat.

15.

Story-line:
The man begins to drink much and this changes him. He begins to maltreat his pets. Soon, his favorite
cat Pluto experiences it too.
One night returning home much intoxicated, the man fancied that the cat avoided his presence. He
siezed him, when in the fright of his violence, he inflicted a slight wound upon his hand with his teeth.
The fury of a demon instantly possessed him. He took from his waistcoast-pocket a penknife, opened it,
grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket.
When he waked up in the morning, he experienced a sentiment half of horror and half of remorse for the
crime. But the feeling was so feeble, that his soul remained untouched. He again plunged into excess,
and soon drowned in wine all memory of the deed. In the meantime the cat slowly recovered. It was
horrible view at his eye but it didn’t appear to suffer. It went about the house as usual, but fled at his
approach.
For a little while, the man was sorry, that the cat doesn’t like him anymore, but the feeling soon gave
place to irritation. And then a spirit of perverseness obsessed him. One morning, in cold blood he slipped
a noose about its neck and hung it to the limb of a tree.
That night he was aroused from sleep by the cry of fire. The whole house was blazing. His wife, a
servant, and hisself hardly escaped from fire. All his wealth burned and he resigned to despair. Next day
he went to look at ruins of his house. All walls had fallen in, with one exception. This exception was
compartment wall in the middle of the house, against which had rested head of his bed. The plastering
here resisted the fire. A dense crowd was collected about this wall and they were watching something in
the middle of it. He approached and saw a bas-relief upon the white surface, the figure of a gigantic cat.
There was a rope about the animal’s neck. It was real wonder for him and he remained terrified. But
then he revived. He had hung the cat in a garden adjacent to the house. Upon the alarm of fire, this
garden had been immediately filled by the crowd, by some one of whom must have been cut from the
tree and thrown, through an open window, into his chamber. This had probably been done with the view
of arousing him from sleep.

The falling of other walls had compressed the cat into a substance of freshly spread plaster, the lime of
which, with flames and ammonia from the carcass, had then accomplished the portraiture as he saw it.
Although he readily accounted this to the reason, he couldn’t do so with his conscience. For months he
couldn’t rid hisself of the phantasm of the cat and he had feeling that seemed like remorse. He regreted
loss of the animal, and started to look for another pet of the same species, and of somewhat similar
appearance to supply its place.
One night he found it. It was a cat exactly similar to the previous one, with one exception. Pluto hadn’t
any white hair upon any portion of his body and this cat had a large indefinie splotch of white, covering
his breast.
The cat seemed to like the man. This was, what he was looking for. He wanted to buy it from the
landlord, but he claimed, he had never seen it before. When he wanted to go home, the animal wanted
to go with him. When they arrived at home it domesticated itself at once and became immediately a
great favorite with his wife.
But soon he started to feel dislike to it. He didn’t know why. It was just reverse of what he anticipated.
This slowly rose to hatred. He avoided the cat. A certain sense of shame and remembrance of his former
deed prevented him from physically abusing it. As the cat was more familiar to him, he was more
furious. In certain moments he wanted to kill it with one blow. But he couldn’t do that. Partly because of
memory of former crime, but chiefly becouse of dread of the cat. His wife realized that the white splotch
on it’s breast was getting shape of the gallows. The animal made him so many tortures that he started to
scheme how to kill it.
One day he went with his wife to cellar to bring something from it. The cat followed them down the steep
stairs and nearly throwing him headlong, exasperated him to madness. Uplifting an axe, and forgetting
in his wrath the childish dread which had hitherto stayed his mind, he aimed a blow on animal, which of
course would have proved instantly fatal. But this blow was arrested by the hand of his wife. Goaded, by
the interference, into a rage more than demonical, he withdrew his hand from her grasp, and burried the
axe in her brain. She fell dead upon the spot, without groan.
Just after the murder, with entire deliberation, he began to think where to conceal the body. He
determined to wall it up in the cellar. He made it so perfectly that no eye would detect anything
suspicious. The wall did not present the slightest appearance of having been disturbed.
Then he wanted to find the cat which caused him so much wretchedness. It seemed that it had run
away, alarmed at the violence of his previous anger.

He was very happy after this discovery. He felt bliss and relief. He slept whole night again after many
days, even with the burden of murder upon his soul.
The fourth day after murder a party of the police came over unexpectedly into the house, and proceeded
to make investigation of the premises. He knew that his nest is inscrutable. He felt no embarrassment.
The officers bade him to accompany them in their search. They were three or four times in cellar. They
didn’t find anything. As they were leaving, he didn’t control himself in the feeling of absolute triumph and
wanted to say something triumphal and something what would doubly sure their assurance of his
guiltlessness. He said that he is glad that he had allayed their suspicions. He said that he has very well
constructed house. Then, with a cane, he knocked right at the wall, where the corpse of his wife lied.
Just with reverberation of his blows he was answered by a voice from the tomb. It was a cry, at first
muffled and broken, like the sobbing of a child, and then quickly swelling into one long, loud and
continuous scream, utterly anomalous and inhuman.
The man was shocked. The policemen dismantled the wall in a moment and found the corpse. There was
the cat sitting on the head of the body.