Does the desire to be evil come from within us, or is it something else? Edgar Allan Poe in the short story ‘The Black Cat’ (1843) illustrates that the narrator has difficulties through his perspective. His unreliability is a result of his sanity. The story begins with the narration of the events which led to the current location, death row. The narrator is shown as being insane. Even though the narrator’s actions may be viewed as perverse or human, many will disagree.
Edgar Allan Poe starts his short story with the narration of the horrors the narrator has endured. His personal story begins with him describing himself as an extremely gentle and caring person who was married to his wife and cared for a lot of animals. He becomes aggressive towards his wife and pets, but not Pluto, their black cat. Intoxicated, the Narrator feels the black cats ignore him. So, he reaches for the cat. The cat bites him. And the Narrator goesuges the eye out. He says that the following day he is remorseful, but to justify his actions, he claims that perverseness makes him continue the abuse. As an example, he hangs the black cat intoxicated later that day. The narrator loses his possessions the night Pluto dies. The narrator takes a similar black cat home. However, he soon feels hatred for it. He says that the white spot reminds him of Pluto. His breaking point came when he saw it as a gallows. He promises to get revenge on it. He pulls a crowbar on the kitten, causing his wife not to let him kill it. So he killed the woman and hid it calmly in the wall of the basement. The narrator admits that he seems insane in the beginning of the story but says he’s not. As a result, the reader doesn’t believe him because sane folks don’t tell people they’re normal. This is a good way to learn what it feels like to go mad. He shares odd information and explains his dark path.
Edgar Allan Poe’s concept of madness is solidified by the violent actions taken by the narrator without regard to consequences or second thoughts. The most disturbing moment in the book occurs when the man disposes his wife with no hesitation. “And, then, as though to me final and irrevocable overthrow came, the spirit PERVERSENESS. Philosophy does not take into account this spirit. The perverseness of my heart is not as important to me as the fact that I know that I have a soul. One hundred times or more, who hasn’t found themselves committing an abominable or stupid act, just because they know it is wrong? The spirit perverseness, I claim, led to my final defeat”, asserts the narrator, who argues that everyone is born with this part of their nature. He notes that people often do bad things just because they know they’re wrong. The narrator will continue to have this mindset throughout the story, as he has no regrets about torturing and killing his wife. This is an example of classic insanity where the narrator makes up an excuse for what he has done.
