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The Black Cat is about a man that starts by explaining his extreme fondness and love for animals and how he had always grown up with them. He tells how he always found a great joy in animals and it was one of his simplest pleasures in life, “…I derived from it one of my principle sources of pleasure.” (pg. 8 ). He talks about how he is married and then goes on to speak of his cat, Pluto, who was an entirely black and rather large cat. The cat followed him everywhere he went and would always be with him at all times. Yet, the main character says how he started to change after a few years and became consumed by alcoholism, “…(I blush to confess it) experienced a radical altercation for the worse.” (pg. 9 ). He started to become more and more violent and had started taking it out on the pets around the house. He maltreated all of the animals except the cat until one night he came home extremely 
intoxicated and noticed the cat was avoiding him. Finally when he got a hold of the cat, he grabbed it and out of fear, the cat bit him and he became so enraged that he cut out one of the cat’s eyes with his pocket knife, “…grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket!” (pg. 10 ). The cat would then on avoid him at all cost and this irritated him so much that he ended up hanging the cat from the tree. That night, he was awakened by someone saying fire and found that his house had been set ablaze. When he returned to the house to check the ruins he found that the image of a cat on the one wall that was left standing. He felt somewhat sad for killing the animal and so he went looking for another cat of similar appearance and found one that was all black but had a large with spot on the breast area. He brought it home and after it domesticated itself he began to dislike it. The white area on the cat had even began to resemble the form of the gallows and to his dismay it was also missing an eye, “…say, the image of a hideous - of a ghastly thing - of the GALLOWS !” (pg. 14 ). One day when the main character and his wife were walking down to the cellar, the cat was underfoot and tripped the main character. He became so upset that he grabbed an ax but his wife stopped him from swinging and he turned around in his rage and killed his wife with the ax. To dispose of the body he removed the bricks in one of the cellar’s walls, placed the body there, and then rebuilt the wall. He left and later that night felt relieved because the cat was nowhere to be found. The police later came and did an extensive search of the house and on the third visit, the cellar. The main character became so confident with his murder that he was wishing the police well, when struck the wall where he had placed the body and the bricks shifted. A cry arose from the wall and the police went and removed the bricks where the cry originated, “No sooner had the reverberation of my blows sunk into silence, than I was answered by a voice from within the tomb!” (pg. 17 ). There, was the decomposing corpse of his wife and sitting on top of her head, the black cat.
intoxicated and noticed the cat was avoiding him. Finally when he got a hold of the cat, he grabbed it and out of fear, the cat bit him and he became so enraged that he cut out one of the cat’s eyes with his pocket knife, “…grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket!” (pg. 10 ). The cat would then on avoid him at all cost and this irritated him so much that he ended up hanging the cat from the tree. That night, he was awakened by someone saying fire and found that his house had been set ablaze. When he returned to the house to check the ruins he found that the image of a cat on the one wall that was left standing. He felt somewhat sad for killing the animal and so he went looking for another cat of similar appearance and found one that was all black but had a large with spot on the breast area. He brought it home and after it domesticated itself he began to dislike it. The white area on the cat had even began to resemble the form of the gallows and to his dismay it was also missing an eye, “…say, the image of a hideous - of a ghastly thing - of the GALLOWS !” (pg. 14 ). One day when the main character and his wife were walking down to the cellar, the cat was underfoot and tripped the main character. He became so upset that he grabbed an ax but his wife stopped him from swinging and he turned around in his rage and killed his wife with the ax. To dispose of the body he removed the bricks in one of the cellar’s walls, placed the body there, and then rebuilt the wall. He left and later that night felt relieved because the cat was nowhere to be found. The police later came and did an extensive search of the house and on the third visit, the cellar. The main character became so confident with his murder that he was wishing the police well, when struck the wall where he had placed the body and the bricks shifted. A cry arose from the wall and the police went and removed the bricks where the cry originated, “No sooner had the reverberation of my blows sunk into silence, than I was answered by a voice from within the tomb!” (pg. 17 ). There, was the decomposing corpse of his wife and sitting on top of her head, the black cat.Page 2:
There is not really physical description of the main character given, neither is his name revealed but from his emotional description I kind of get a picture a more girthy man that is in maybe is early to mid thirties. The main character is a very loving and caring person when it comes to animals and he feels that one of his greatest joys is through animals. He even has a number of different types due to his love and happiness he derives from them. He loves his wife at well but as the story progresses he become angry and violent. The main character starts resorting to alcohol and the alcohol further feeds his rage to where he becomes mad, both crazy and enraged. He also becomes very paranoid and then when he gets his newer cat he easily gets irritated and even fearful of it. Then he allows his rage to take over and turns from being so kind and tender to a murder that ends up killing his wife. After the
murder he’s confident that he got away with the murder and is boastful which leads to his downfall when he taps the wall revealing the corpse of his wife and the cat. I believe the sentence that represents the main character is, “Our friendship lasted, in this manner, for several years, during which my general temperament and character - through the instrumentality of the Fiend Intemperance - had (I blush to confess it) experienced a radical alteration for the worse.” (pg. 9 ) because I think it shows the transition that made the character do all the horrible things he ends up doing. The reason the main character does his evil deeds is because he indulges in way too much alcohol and when he drinks he becomes violent. Due to his violence when drinking, he cuts out the cat’s eye and then hangs it just because he knows it’s against the law and he had become “perverse.” His irritation with having the cat and the paranoia that ensues from hanging his previous cat motivates him to attempt killing the new cat when he becomes angry and in turn he loses control and kills his wife.
murder he’s confident that he got away with the murder and is boastful which leads to his downfall when he taps the wall revealing the corpse of his wife and the cat. I believe the sentence that represents the main character is, “Our friendship lasted, in this manner, for several years, during which my general temperament and character - through the instrumentality of the Fiend Intemperance - had (I blush to confess it) experienced a radical alteration for the worse.” (pg. 9 ) because I think it shows the transition that made the character do all the horrible things he ends up doing. The reason the main character does his evil deeds is because he indulges in way too much alcohol and when he drinks he becomes violent. Due to his violence when drinking, he cuts out the cat’s eye and then hangs it just because he knows it’s against the law and he had become “perverse.” His irritation with having the cat and the paranoia that ensues from hanging his previous cat motivates him to attempt killing the new cat when he becomes angry and in turn he loses control and kills his wife.Page 3:
I’m not quite sure who I would choose to play the main character of The Black 
Cat, but if I had to choose anyone I think I would pick Tom Cruise to play him and just have him put on a little weight. I chose Tom Cruise because he can be very kind and endearing but at the same time he exudes a quality of underlying insanity so I think that he would be able to assume this role quite naturally. To play his wife I would want Keira Knightley because I picture his wife as a very small and feminine figure which I see in Keira. From her previous roles in Pirates of the Caribbean and the peculiar ccharacters she dealt with in the movie I think she would equally fit in to play this role as well. One of the main things I would want to leave out is the beginning where the main character is just talking about how whatever he did haunts him. I think that part is too slow for the liking of the audience so I would much rather either condense it or make it into a short narration that comes as the introduction to the movie or it would be said right as the movie begins to play. Another thing that I would very much like to con
dense is the large amount of time that is between having the cat and the main character’s fall into alcoholism and rage. I think that is too much time of nothing to put into the movie and I would also shorten the time between when the second cat becomes domesticated and when the main character and his wife go down into the cellar. I don’t really like to add things to a story because I feel that it alters the story and one of my biggest pet peevs is when the story is changed but I would want to add a little more action to the story. For example, I would want to add some scenes that would show the main character in his drunken stupor and some of the horrid things that the character does to maltreat the animals so that the audience can fully grasp the magnitude of the main character’s uncontrollable anger. That is the only thing I can add without changing the story and straying from the book.
Cat, but if I had to choose anyone I think I would pick Tom Cruise to play him and just have him put on a little weight. I chose Tom Cruise because he can be very kind and endearing but at the same time he exudes a quality of underlying insanity so I think that he would be able to assume this role quite naturally. To play his wife I would want Keira Knightley because I picture his wife as a very small and feminine figure which I see in Keira. From her previous roles in Pirates of the Caribbean and the peculiar ccharacters she dealt with in the movie I think she would equally fit in to play this role as well. One of the main things I would want to leave out is the beginning where the main character is just talking about how whatever he did haunts him. I think that part is too slow for the liking of the audience so I would much rather either condense it or make it into a short narration that comes as the introduction to the movie or it would be said right as the movie begins to play. Another thing that I would very much like to con
dense is the large amount of time that is between having the cat and the main character’s fall into alcoholism and rage. I think that is too much time of nothing to put into the movie and I would also shorten the time between when the second cat becomes domesticated and when the main character and his wife go down into the cellar. I don’t really like to add things to a story because I feel that it alters the story and one of my biggest pet peevs is when the story is changed but I would want to add a little more action to the story. For example, I would want to add some scenes that would show the main character in his drunken stupor and some of the horrid things that the character does to maltreat the animals so that the audience can fully grasp the magnitude of the main character’s uncontrollable anger. That is the only thing I can add without changing the story and straying from the book.
good story
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