The Black Cat

What might the narrator be repressing? Remember that the unconscious mind consists of repressed wounds, fears, unresolved conflicts and guilt desires. 

A reoccurring theme in Poe's writing is the use of animals to represent characters' greatest fears and trauma that haunt them. Within "The Black Cat" the narrators source of stress and rage comes from his black cat, in which fuels his impulsive behavior. The cat drives the narrator into a psychotic state where he is constantly battling between his sanity and insanity-- a motif of "good" and "bad". 

The narrator has a love and adoration for animals; a 'deep love' that has been around since the very day he was born. The story goes on to tell of his married life, and how the narrator had owned several pets, but the one he cherishes most is Pluto, a black cat. The narrator has an unconditional love for Pluto, recalling how they were "the best of friends", and how they would always play with each other. The narrator states in this stanza how his life began to chance as soon as he started to drink heavily -- that of which turned into a 'disease'. A volta in the story shifts the mood from happy and fairytale-like to dark and sinister once starting to describe his sudden aggressiveness. Although physically abusive to his wife, the narrator never once laid a hand on Pluto. However, one night, the narrator felt such intense rage that he gauges out one of Pluto's eyes, comparable to that of an evil eye. The narrator then hangs the cat and finds a new cat where rather than the cat being afraid of the narrator, the narrator is terrified of the animal. In the attempt of axing his new cat, the narrator ends up killing his wife instead. At the end of the story, the wall where he buries his wife is torn down by police revealing the dead body, and Pluto's hissing face one top of his wife's head. 

Highlighting the main points of the story, the narrator constantly rationalizes his actions, saying that he is far from "mad" or "insane". He has a sense of self-awareness understanding that his actions are far from loving, but rather out of fear and anger. The narrator is possessive of the cat, stating how "the cat didn't like my wife. It loved me alone." When looking at symbolism, this possessive love for the cat metaphorical for his love for alcohol. He admits the change in his character right from the beginning of the story, as if he became a different person when the "cat" was around. The narrator is constantly worried and fearful of this cat that he resorts to violence to act out on his feelings. The narrator is repressing his anger at his alcoholism, aware of how different he becomes once he drinks. The anxiety about the cat is driven by his drinking, making him unreliable as a narrator and feeds the cat's symbolism.