Ode To The Black Cat Analysis Essay

As any cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat; the cat owns you. Author Pablo Neruda emphasizes this in his poem "Ode to the Cat," by incorporating particular comparisons to reinforce the idea that cats are superior to all species. He includes specific terms that describe the cat's characteristics/features to illustrate its greatness and perfection. He praises, he worships the cat to build the theme of obsession and the author's character.

The poem begins with Pablo heavily praising and worshiping the creature and in doing so we can see how he's so mesmerized by the fact that cats are so perfect/superior that it makes him obsessed, even infatuated with them to an unhealthy point. It's not good to be severely obsessed with something. First, he starts differentiating cats from others, “There was something wrong with the animals: their tails were too long, and they had unfortunate heads”, “But the cat, only the cat turned out finished, and proud.” He explains how flawed other animals are compared to the cat. He further conveys the difference in inferiority when he states, “from whiskers to its tail, from sixth sense to squirming rat..nothing hangs together quite like a cat: neither flowers nor the moon..” Neruda goes so far as to suggest cats are more powerful than the moon and nature, which is absurd. Furthermore, Pablo seems to criticize everything except 3 things that he considers to be the equivalence of a cat: the sun, emperor status, and gold. “It's a thing by itself, like the sun..”, “O little emperor without a realm, conqueror without a homeland...” For gold, the author provides imagery details about the cat's eyes throughout his poem to maintain the pedestal he's placed cats on. His reference to gold indicates the comparison of royalty, showing praise to cats as being the elite/best, “...to its golden eyes”, “the cat's yellow eyes are the only slot for depositing the coins of night”, “their eyes hold ciphers of gold.” Overall, he associates the cat being on par with the sun, royalty/gold as well as being more than nature, all of which are more valuable to humans than a mere cat is, thus demonstrating Neruda's obsession and perhaps delusion with cats.

The author(character) is an admirer of cats. Perfection is unattainable. Pablo Neruda however seems to have found it in an animal. Unlike other animals, the poet believes that the cat is perfect because of its independence and purity. “It sticks to itself and knows exactly what it wants”, “But the cat wants nothing more than to be a cat, and every cat is pure cat”, “because everything feels filthy to the cat's immaculate paw”. He portrays the cat as being better and more advanced than anything else in the world, implying that it does not entail any changes, unlike everything else “engineers want to be poets” and “snakes would rather have wings.” Furthermore, Pablo recognizes how magnificent, incomparable and unpredictable a cat is, making him realize how far beyond a cat is to his understanding. “I don’t know a thing about cats. I know everything else, including life and its archipelago, seas and unpredictable cities, plant life, the pistil and its scandals, the pluses and minuses of math. I know the earth's volcanic protrusions and the crocodiles unreal hide, the fireman's unseen kindness And the priest's blue atavism. But cats I can't figure out.” This makes Neruda envious that he can understand many aspects of life yet it's an impossible feat for him to completely comprehend the flawless creature. He includes him knowing everything in life because life isn't perfect but cats are hence why he's uncertain about them.

In essence, the point poet Pablo Neruda is trying to get across is that cats are the epitome of perfection, one of a kind, flawless species on earth. Its independence and purity, even their physical attributes like immaculate paws to vivid golden eyes convey their superiority and perfection. They're so perfect making him fixated. In the end, he will never get to know cats and their entirety because no one possesses a cat. After all, it belongs to one.

Although I don't agree with Pablo that cats are superior to us, it does make me laugh that he thinks that way. Do you think cats are better than us? Are they truly “diminutive parlor tigers” or “beasts” of the night?