A Case Of Murder Analysis

They should not have left him there alone,
Alone that is except for the cat.
He was only nine, not old enough
To be left alone in a basement flat,
Alone, that is, except for the cat.
A dog would have been a different thing,
A big gruff dog with slashing jaws,
But a cat with round eyes mad as gold,
Plump as a cushion with tucked-in paws---
Better have left him with a fair-sized rat!
But what they did was leave him with a cat.
He hated that cat; he watched it sit,
A buzzing machine of soft black stuff,
He sat and watched and he hated it,
Snug in its fur, hot blood in a muff,
And its mad gold stare and the way it sat
Crooning dark warmth: he loathed all that.
So he took Daddy's stick and he hit the cat.
Then quick as a sudden crack in glass
It hissed, black flash, to a hiding place
In the dust and dark beneath the couch,
And he followed the grin on his new-made face,
A wide-eyed, frightened snarl of a grin,
And he took the stick and he thrust it in,
Hard and quick in the furry dark.
The black fur squealed and he felt his skin
Prickle with sparks of dry delight.
Then the cat again came into sight,
Shot for the door that wasn't quite shut,
But the boy, quick too, slammed fast the door:
The cat, half-through, was cracked like a nut
And the soft black thud was dumped on the floor.
Then the boy was suddenly terrified
And he bit his knuckles and cried and cried;
But he had to do something with the dead thing there.
His eyes squeezed beads of salty prayer
But the wound of fear gaped wide and raw;
He dared not touch the thing with his hands
So he fetched a spade and shovelled it
And dumped the load of heavy fur
In the spidery cupboard under the stair
Where it's been for years, and though it died
It's grown in that cupboard and its hot low purr
Grows slowly louder year by year:
There'll not be a corner for the boy to hide
When the cupboard swells and all sides split
And the huge black cat pads out of it.


Submitted by Andrew Mayers

.: :.

this is really good but really anoying because i have to do an essay on it

| Posted on 2009-11-09 | by a guest

.: :.

i think the boy pokes the cat but then is worried it will fight back so trys to scare it away unfortunatly he is also overcome with rage so in the end the cat gets killed. the boy then realises what he has done so trys to hide the cat

| Posted on 2009-06-03 | by a guest

.: :.

i think that it is about how the cat is all snidey towards the boy, he hits it, but then becomes carried away with "rage", and begins to enjoy hitting it, but when the cat runs, he doesn't want it to escape, so he slams, the door as the cat is trying to break free, causing the cat to become indefinintly decapitated. the boy realises his fault and tries to hide it. but, the poet, vernon scannell, never said it was dead when he hid it.

| Posted on 2009-06-01 | by a guest

.: :.

I am doing an essay of this poem and something I am going to write about is that although the poet is writing in 3rd person, is he writing about himself in the past. I think this because he knowss the boys feelings and thoughts.
Also for the people who doesn't know what he means by the cat growing bigger and bigger, I think it is some sort of dream or thought etc.
Hope this x Academy (Greenock, Scotland)
General/Credit Level

| Posted on 2009-05-28 | by a guest

.: :.

I am doing a test at school about this poem next week and i am revising it and i think its a very good poem to be doing at the moment!

| Posted on 2009-05-10 | by a guest

.: :.

I'm doing an essay no this at school and i have to compare this to another poem, i cannot fully understand the poem but i think that the boy wishes he could have the attention that maybe the cat is given, and after the death of the cat he feels bad.

| Posted on 2009-03-29 | by a guest

.: :.

It seems the boy has gotten carried away, after all he's only nine. It is really cool though! \./
theMoporter

| Posted on 2009-03-18 | by a guest

.: :.

The poem is'nt about jealosy it's about the parents of the boy who are neglecting him and the boy kills the cat because he hates it.
? age 13

| Posted on 2009-02-18 | by a guest

.: :.

i think this poem is all about jealousy but i dont think the boy should have killed the cat. he should have just poked it and left it alone.
im studying this poem at school and i have to write an essay on it.
im finding it quite difficult as i only have 1 lesson on which to complete it in.

| Posted on 2009-02-09 | by a guest

.: :.

i think this poem is all about jealousy but i dont think the boy should have killed the cat. he should have just poked it and left it alone.
im studying this poem at school and i have to write an essay on it.
im finding it quite difficult as i only have 1 lesson on which to complete it in.

| Posted on 2009-02-09 | by a guest