Scene One
Martin McDonagh describes the first scene: "A couple of armchairs near the back wall and a table centre, on which as the play begins, lies a dead black cat, its head is half missing…Davey, a long-haired, slightly pudgy neighbor of seventeen, stands staring quietly at this cat for a few moments." The cat is a central symbol in the opening scene. Upon reading the setting, a reader's attention is drawn to the appearance of the cat. A reader becomes keen to unearth the cause of the cat's death and the reason for its absent head. Moreover, the cat's dark color is conspicuous which sets up the mystery in the scene.
Scene Two
Martin McDonagh defines the second scene: “A desolate Northern Ireland warehouse or some such. James, a bare-chested, bloody and bruised man, hangs upside down from the ceiling, his feet bare and bloody. Padraic idles near him, wielding a cut-throat razor, his hands bloody. Around Padraic’s chest are strapped two empty holsters and there are two handguns on a table stage left. James is crying.” The scene epitomizes categorical anguish. James’ appearance suggests that he has been subjected to torture most probably by Padraic. Some of the pertinent issues which a reader seeks to understand would be why James is in the miserable and vulnerable situation and Padraic’s motivation for subjecting him to the misery. The razor and handguns are symbols of extreme violence; James is the victim whereas Padraic is the perpetrator of the violence.
Christy’s Witness
Christy asserts, “I was brought up be Jesuits. And the thing the Jesuits tell you, “It’s a terrible thing to go lying.” Of course, a fella’s eyes can often play tricks on him, especially when he only has one eye, but as sure as shite I’d swear you aimed for the cat’s full-pelt, then near enough reversed on the fecker.” Christy’s account indicates that Davey deliberately hit the cat; his action was not accidental; it was intentional. Christy’s invocation of her Jesuit faith increases the credibility of her account. Davey hates cats; otherwise, he would not harm or kill a helpless animal. In the context of animal rights, he violates the cat’s right to life by killing it.
Scene Four
In Scene four, “Donny is standing, swigging poteen from the bottle, his hands black, watching Davey trying to cover a ginger cat in black shoe polish and doing a very poor job of it.” The exercise is futile because the polish would not dye the cat's ginger color to black. Perhaps their intoxication misleads them to conclude that the cat's color will transform miraculously to black. Their objective is to mislead Padraic that the cat is his by painting it black which is not logical because the cat could lick the polish.
