Narrator's Self-Destruction The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe is an American classic about a man that loses his sanity because of one cat. Poe wrote the book after his wife's death and his moms death. The narrator is self-destructive by killing or hurting all things that loved him, alcoholism, and recognizes his self-destructiveness. Alcoholism was a factor in the narrator's self-destruction. He wasted hours at the local pubs. Alcoholism drives him to stab an …showed first 75 words of 624 total…

…showed last 75 words of 624 total…but he should have not toyed with it because if he didn't be would have gotten away with murder. All these things drove the narrator to self-destruction but he did not care. He realized he was destroying himself by tapping on the wall where his wife was hidden. Killing the things that loved him also drove him to self-destruction because he became lonelier and lonelier. And finally the alcoholism drove him to depression and self-destruction.