The black cat
symbolizes the state of the narrator's soul-which is black, mutilated, and decaying. The black
cat is symbolic because it is the cat's meowing that draws attention to the wall, and the
perverse pleasure the black soul of the narrator takes in believing he has gotten away from
it.
There are many ironies in this story. One is the way the narrator worries
that after he relates his story, others will not give it much thought-it is just an ordinary
event. Yet, the narrator is telling the story from his prison cell awaiting his death-and his
tale is of his murderous rage. This seems very far from ordinary.
Other
ironies include his description of the torture and mutilation of the cat as a "silly
action" done for no real reason, and also the clam retelling of the murders of both his
wife and the cat, and then going calmly on with his life.
The majoris that his
pompous arrogance is really what led to his being apprehended. He was so sure they would never
discover his secret, and his nonchalant tapping of the wall leads the cat to wailing, and
ultimately to his being caught.
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