Read the excerpt from “The Black Cat.” I took from my waistcoat-pocket a pen-knife, opened it, grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket! I blush, I burn, I shudder, while I pen the dam. nable atrocity. How does the first-person point of view affect the meaning of the text? Readers gain insight into the narrator's shame after he cuts the cat’s eye out. Readers learn about the narrator's behavior, but not his emotions. Readers learn the narrator's excuse for his cruel behavior. Readers get an inside perspective on how the narrator feels about all of his pets.