I believe that the innocent killings and the mass death experienced in the witch hunts and Black Plague created a long-lasting connection with black cats and death among the population, and thus, is why we carry this connection with us today in the twenty first century. Because of this, many innocent women and black cats were killed and, as a consequence, the population of mice rose and contributed to the horror of the Black Death (Lin). Additionally, people developed the idea that black cats were sent by the devil to help witches complete their evil tasks and that witches could even transform into black cats to allow them to cast spells in disguise (Lin). During this time, evil qualities were assigned to the black cat and the belief that death would soon occur if a black cat crossed your path was installed in Norman and Germanic people (Lin). Beginning in the Middle Ages, people in Europe where very superstitious due to their limited scientific understanding and because of various religious beliefs. There was a prehistoric fear of large, carnivorous cats, and thus, for survival these cats were associated with death and had to be feared (Lin).

This all correlates to the black cat’s character within the short story as he causes the narrator pain, fear, and ultimately his own death.īlack cats have represented death for many years throughout history long before they did in the Edgar Allan Poe story. The choice of red as the accompanying color to the black background creates the feeling of alarm to make the cat associated with death and pain. The moon represents the cat’s eye, and thus, we as an audience understand that it is night and further associate the black cat with darkness and fear. Here the black cat is representing an evil being that is looming over the narrator’s house.

The words “The Black Cat” are written in a serif font, and Edgar Allan Poe’s name runs across the top of the cover.

There is a house with surrounding trees that make up the body of a cat, and the moon. The background is solid black, and the only two other colors are white and red. Source: The first example is a book cover for Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Black Cat,” first published in 1843 and redone in 2016 (Poe).

“The Black Cat” Book Cover, Shannon Press/Edgar Allen Poe, 2016

Edgar allan poe story the black cat