When trying to find the treasure, follow the map. When you read a story, you listen to the narrator. Once you arrive at your final destination, you may not find the treasure, a disappointment that would mean you have a misleading map. Likewise, events may not be as expected, so the narrator would be unreliable. You have to dig deep into the ground to find out if the treasure is really there. Likewise, as a reader, you have to dig deeper and read critically to understand whether the narrator is reliable or not. “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe is about a narrator who tells the reader his story of how he ended up where he is: in prison. It all starts when he meets a cat named Pluto who loves him until he is mistreated, which leads to many other horrible events. It becomes obvious that the narrator has no conscience because Poe reveals the type of character he really is. In “The Black Cat,” the narrator indicates many signs of unreliability, as he makes the reader wonder what details to believe, denies being crazy, and states how he became perverted. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To begin, the narrator begins to tell the reader his story with some details that may, in themselves, not be reliable. He begins to inform the reader what the story is about by stating that his story is "without comment, a series of simple domestic events" (Poe 3). This means that the events that follow to explain his situation are absolutely normal and recognizable to others. While reading the reader remembers it and discovers that it is not like that and ordinary events are not told. Furthermore, the narrator blames one and only one thing for the cause of all the situations he has found himself in: alcohol. He said, “But my sickness has grown in me – for what sickness like alcohol” has taken over and made him bad-tempered (Poe 5). The night he was drunk, Pluto bites the narrator, which makes the narrator furious that he ends up cutting out one of Pluto's eyes. With many such events, the reader can judge his actions and conclude that alcohol was not the cause of all the problems. Instead, it was the root of his downfall and led to all the bad habits he ended up with. Even if he caused all the problems, the reader can't trust everything he is told because he probably wasn't himself and half of his story would just be guesswork. In general, many statements are false, but the narrator mentions them to convince the reader to believe him. Also, another thing the narrator does is claim that he is not mentally ill right at the beginning. He had to immediately say, “Yet I am not mad – and I certainly do not dream” because he feels it is essential that the reader can trust him since the things he says are abnormal (Poe 3). However, it is a clear sign that the narrator is crazy because he is trying to prove that he is not. Even though he has just said that he is not crazy, the narrator tells the reader “tomorrow I will die and today I would like to lighten my soul” (Poe 3). He wants to be relieved and begins to confess to all the horrendous crimes he has committed. This becomes suspicious since he is not expected to try to convince the reader of his sincerity after telling him that he will die for his actions. An implication can be formed that the narrator is not providing the right facts about the circumstances which would cause the reader to disbelieve his words. In summary, the reader cannot trust the narrator's words because he is mentally unstable and is telling an ambiguous story. Finally, more unreliability comes from the narrator when he declares that he has become evil. With the passing.