Here, a reader is left wondering why the police came. For instance, he mentions that the policemen came to investigate his house, and instinctively went to the cellar where they conducted a thorough search. The “emptiness” of his narration also leaves readers to question the validity of his point of view. He also mentions that he married early, before reaching the appropriate age for marriage.

For example, he chooses to remain without a name or age. A lot of information is withheld in this story. The concealment of information by the narrator from the audience shows that he is an unreliable narrator. When does the reader start to question the validity of the narrator’s point-of-view? He later claims that he killed it due to the fact that the cat loved him. This is confirmed by his explanation that he killed the cat due to the hatred that grew in him after the cat bit him. The narrator also presents his work with contradicting statements. Moreover, he goes to the extent of gouging out his eye when the cat scratches him out of fear (Poe 4). The irrationality of the narrator is depicted in his hatred for the cat Pluto, with no particular reason. For instance, he shows hatred to his pets in the beginning but changes his attitude towards the same pets in his present narration. Poe (45) depicts the extremity of the narrator from the unconditional affection. The narrator starts with a confession to prove his sanity, but from reading, a reader/listener has to question the peculiar personality of the narrator.

In The Black Cat, which is narrated in the first-person narrative mode, the writer/narrator’s credibility raises suspicion. From a narrative mode, most often, the first-person narrators are usually unreliable (Andriopoulos 841). The nature of a writer or narrator is distinguished sometimes almost immediately.

Unreliable narration can be used to create suspense, but then again it can mislead the reader. Learn More What makes to think this is an unreliable narrator?Īn unreliable narrator/writer arises when the quality of acceptance and the power to elicit belief is seriously compromised.

Unreliable narrator