What better to represent a wishful impulse than the forbidden fruit itself?

The story of Adam of Eve is essential to each of the Abrahamic beliefs, which include Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Though the image of the bitten apple appeals to the Christian narrative, this annotation will consider the nuances of the Islamic discourse. Adam and Eve were created in heaven– everything was available to them, however, they were not to approach Shajarat Ul-Khold, the tree of immortality. Some curiosity and desire later, they transgress by eating from the tree, which was their own wishful impulse, and as a result, they are brought down to Earth. 

In a nutshell, In “The Black Cat” the protagonist has his own wishful impulses, in the form of hurting his cat. Eventually he begins to entertain these impulses, which leads to his transgression of hanging his cat from a tree in his yard (The Black Cat). Here we have the protagonist’s transgression, as well as Adam and Eve’s transgression. As what seems to end up being a consequence, another cat makes its way into the life of the protagonist. While the protagonist wants to do good by this cat at first, his old impulses eventually return, and they grow worse (The Black Cat). What follows is a complete disconnect of the protagonist by a “demoniacal rage” wherein he murders his wife, and as the story wraps up we see a psychotic character that the protagonist has become (The Black Cat). 

If this degradation of character, which begins from a now seemingly meaningless annoyance to a cat, can be considered a punishment of its own sort, that acts out by destroying the protagonist and leaves him to incriminate himself, is this not a punishment that would have been the result of acting on a wishful impulse? If so, then there are parallels that can be drawn between the overarching theme of acting on your wishful impulses and the consequences it can have on your person, which is the case of the protagonist, or on your status, which is the case of Adam and Eve.