Answer and Explanation:
This question is about the short story "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe.
The narrator is originally a good man who, in the end, kills his own wife and their black cat.
Poe uses several symbols to portray the narrator's mental state. <u>The original household, a good house where the narrator and his wife lived with several pets, represents freedom and balance. That was when the narrator was still a sane, loving man. The fire that destroys his home represents the decay of his mental state, its deterioration. Just like the fire consumed the house, alcoholism is consuming the narrator and his qualities. Finally, the impoverished house and the cellar - damp, dark, and suffocating - represent his insanity. The narrator is now trapped in his own craziness.</u>
