Black Cat Narrator's Downfall

Think about this; it is your last night on Earth and you are sitting in a jail cell with a heavy burden on your chest that you can’t help but to think about. The world sees you as crazy, but you know you’re sane. How would you prove your innocence? In Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, “The Black Cat” this scenario is put to the test. In the story, the reader is introduced to an unnamed narrator who is writing about how he got to this low point. He blames most of his downfall on things that he thinks he has no control over such as alcohol. His sanity is something that must be proven, and with Poe’s use of the first person narrative we see it become possible. Edgar Allen Poe uses first person point of view to help the reader further understand the narrator’s decline into insanity.
In the story, readers are allowed to see into the mind of the unnamed narrator through the use of first person narration which is ultimately how he is proven as unreliable. The narrator blames most of his demise on alcohol and how its effects on …show more content…
Without seeing this story through the narrator’s eyes, the reader would lose the ability to understand why he thought he was sane. Poe leaves the reader with the ability to draw their own conclusions about the man, the cat, the wife and the situations surrounding them. When this story is first read it can come off as a frightening tale with little meaning, but once it is read again there is a much deeper meaning. First person point of view is keen in understanding the man vs. self conflict which is obviously very prevalent throughout the story. The reader is brought into the story with the expectation of an explanation of innocence but in reality is given an unprovoked confession of his crimes. This may have alleviated a little of the burden that weighed on his heart, but in the end it only served to prove he could not be