The Black Cat Addiction

In America alone, about twenty-three million five hundred thousand people suffer from addiction. In The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator is facing major character change due to an addiction to alcohol. Addiction to alcohol is the major cause for the evil mentality of the narrator. He used to be a loving family man, but since he was intaking such high amounts of alcohol, he has become a criminally insane menace. He lived happily with his wife and numerous pets, but his all time favorite pet was a black cat with the name of Pluto. He begins to drink more and more, and as he drinks he becomes a violent man with the motive to kill. This viciously aggressive mindset of the character can be proven in several ways; his shame retelling …show more content…
After admitting that he was drunk, the narrator comes home one night will the drive for evil. Pluto, his beloved feline companion, is avoiding him because of how loud and physical the narrator is behaving. This brings extreme fury to the narrator, so he stabs the cat in the eye. After committing this abusive act, the narrator admits, “My original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight from my body; and a more than fiendish malevolence, gin-nurtured, thrilled every fibre of my frame” (2). This thought from the narrator proves that he has become a fiend. In summary, the narrator felt that his true conscious is leaving, and now he is becoming evil. From his head to his toes, the narrator is changing for the worse. After reliving this flashback, the narrator is not proud of this experience. He states, “ I blush, I burn, I shudder, while I pen the damnable atrocity” (2). The narrator was retelling the incident of how he abused Pluto, and he obviously was embarrassed of this. The narrator was shaking with shame because he knows that when he is in a drunken state that he will do violently questionable things. The “sober narrator” is in despair because alcohol had ruined his life. The next morning after the narrator stabbed Pluto, he was filled with regret. “When reason returned with the morning -- when I had slept off the fumes of …show more content…
He used to be a loving and gentle man, but his addiction to alcohol caused his tenderness to wash away with every drink he took. This is obvious once it is know that he is shameful of retelling the story , his thoughts, and that he killed his wife in attempt to kill a cat. Addiction to anything can lead to horribly abusive actions that will hurt and destroy everything. In this case, addiction lead to a man murdering every important thing that could have made his life