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Alcohol Abuse In The Black Cat By Edgar Allan Poe

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Alcohol Abuse In The Black Cat By Edgar Allan Poe
In the short story, “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator was sane during his wife's murder. The narrator had several pets for many years and was happy to be with his wife, until he started to abuse alcohol. His alcohol abuse led to the abuse of his pets and wife, eventually leading to his wife’s “murder,”which is what the narrator called it when he committed the crime. Alcoholism does not make a man insane, the narrator knew what he was doing and he knew that it was wrong, unlike a person who suffers with the M’Naghten Rule. (Defendant either did not understand what they did, or failed to distinguish right from wrong, because of a “diseased mind”) The narrator also took the time to hide his wife’s body to get away with his crime.
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