The story “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe narrates the crimes committed by the main character while distorting specific details in an attempt to claim the reliability of evidence. In this piece, the man’s testimony seems hectic, and the likelihood of mental issues caused by alcohol does not allow consider his statements accurate. Therefore, one might decide that the murderer is lying because the facts seem dubious and his consciousness is unclear.
With respect to the criminal’s conditions, it can be determined that the circumstances differ from those described by this individual since he occasionally mentions the facts opposing them. For instance, when speaking about the police’s investigation, he says that “upon the fourth day of the assassination,” when it was conducted, “the corpse, already greatly decayed,” was discovered (Poe). However, these two conditions do not match because this state of the body was unlikely to be reported over such a short period of time. Moreover, the woman, who “made frequent allusion to the ancient popular notion, which regarded all black cats as witches in disguise,” could not possibly support her husband’s interests in pets (Poe). It means that her character’s description was erroneous, and the intentionality of this occasion can be easily attributed to the man’s desire to conceal the evidence.
To summarize, the narrator is not reliable in portraying his version of events due to the existence of contradicting facts. His insanity caused by alcohol led to tragic outcomes, but the likely motives are connected to their less-perfect relationship with his wife. Considering the above statements, it can be concluded that the love for animals demonstrated by the man was not shared by his spouse. The fact that the woman was murdered earlier than he said makes the readers believe that the story is not true.
Work Cited
Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Black Cat.” Poestories, n.d., Web.