- How did the narrator change over the years? Why do you think he became this way?
Over the years the narrator gets more and crazier because of his drinking, loss of Pluto, guilt and conscience. At the beginning of the story the narrator talks about how he and his wife have lots of pets because he’s fond of animals. He also says he isn’t mad which might suggest that he is mad because why else mention it? He talks about a cat called Pluto whom he loved and who loved him but then he starts drinking, ‘… instrumentality of the fiend intemperance’ he describes himself to be getting progressively ‘moody’, ‘irritable’ and ‘regardless of the feelings of others’. He starts to come home drunk and beats his wife and animals and it isn’t until he wants to hurt Pluto (which since he started drinking, had not miss-treated) that the narrator starts to recognise that alcohol is changing him like a disease. The narrator, now an alcoholic, hurt and kills Pluto, and on the same night his house burns down. Soon after he feels a lot of guilt and later starts to miss Pluto. He finds a new cat that looks exactly like Pluto however this cat has a white chest which over sometime resembles the shape of a hanging device. He becomes irritated and scared of the new Pluto and is convinced it’s evil. He tries to kill new Pluto but ends up killing his wife who he then buries in the walls of his cellar. The new Pluto goes missing but returns to unveil the narrator’s murder by meowing really loudly on top of the wife’s head. This causes him to be horrified and makes him feel he was right about the cat all along.
