Throughout the opening paragraph of "The Black Cat," the reader is introduced to a
narrator who, because of his grotesque actions, has become mentally deranged and very
untrustworthy, " . . . my very senses reject their own evidence." The narration of this
story is in the first person, which would lead you to believe the narrator could be
trusted to relate to you the true events of the story, but this is false. The narrator
in this story is unreliable due to his horrid state of mind and body. The narrator
cannot be relied upon to show the reader the true events of the story, these events have
to be interpreted and the reader must come to his own conclusion as to what really
happened.
The reader is shown in the opening paragraph that he should not trust the narrator to
deliver the true events of the story. The narrator admits throughout the story that his
bad habits, namely alcoholism, lead to his irrational state of mind. His alcoholism was
the root of his downfall. While intoxicated, the narrator mutilated his favourite pet,
Pluto, causing the cat to become terrified of his master. The alienation of his cat gave
the narrator even more cause to become mentally unstable.
The hanging of his cat shows how the narrator has become obsessed with doing evil things
for the sake of their evilness. This evilness is linked to his alcoholism. The narrator
was most-likely in a drunken state when he hung his cat, which only infuriated his
temper. This separation of friends had a huge effect on the narrator's deadly temper.
His temper is such that anything that slightly annoyed him caused him to go into fits of
rage.
The fits of rage which occupy the narrator for much of the story are all linked to his
pet cats. He points out that he was an animal lover in his younger days and the feeling
was carried through into his maturity. His love for animals ended here. His alcoholism
had driven him to avoid his animals or, when he encountered them, to physically harm them
for the reason that they were there. The narrator's pet cat's were the exceptions. He
held his temper back from his cats because of his love for them. This feeling disappears
after time and the cats become the subject of his worst fits of rage.
After each violent act upon his cats, the narrator did feel remorse at his actions.
This feeling also disappears over time and, as it disappeared, his rage grew. The
narrator seems to have had the feeling that they (the animals) must pay for what they
have done. Tiny scratches upon the narrators hand necessitated Pluto losing an eye. He
also seems to be upset that his cats love him and want to be around him. He felt he
should be the one to love them and they should not be allowed to love. This is shown
through his annoyance at their constant presence around him. He must be the one in
control, and be able to make other things do what he wants.
The fits of rage which he encountered are finally brought to a culmination when his wife
stops his attempted murder of their new cat. The narrator is so mad at his wife that he
takes the worst possible action. He kills her. The murder of his wife seems to be the
real end for the narrator. He feels little guilt for his actions, "The guilt of my dark
deed disturbed me little." The reason for his lack of guilt is that he does not believe
he has done anything wrong. His conscience has become so deteriorated that nothing seems
to affect him anymore.
When an outsider looks at the events of the story, it is obvious that the narrator is
untrustworthy. The alcoholism, which affects the narrator for much of his adult life can
be seen as the root of his problems. The alcoholism leads to other problems in his life,
such as his horrible fits of rage, and his utter disliking of his once prized pets. In
his mentally deranged state, the narrator cannot be trusted to deliver the true events of
the story. Therefore the reader must take it upon himself to interpret the events of the
story and come up with his own conclusion as to what really happened, and why they
happened.
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