Question

Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of this story. Read this excerpt from “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe. The fury of a demon instantly possessed me. I knew myself no longer. My original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight from my body and a more than fiendish malevolence, gin-nurtured, thrilled every fibre of my frame. How does the first-person point of view affect the meaning of the text? Readers learn about the narrator’s behavior from an emotional distance. Readers get an inside perspective on why the narrator feels he can treat the cat as he wishes. Readers gain insight into the narrator's belief that he is possessed by a demon. Readers learn the narrator's own analysis and explanation for his behavior.

Answer 1

Readers learn the narrators own analysis and explanation for his behavior

Answer 2

Due to the first-person point of view, readers learn the narrator's own analysis and explanation for his behavior.

Step-by-step explanation:

If a story is told from the character's perspective while using pronouns such as "I" or "me", we can identify the point of view as a first-person one. That sort of narrative is not omniscient, which means readers can only know what the character who is telling the story knows or wants to share. Also, the narrator is not reliable, since he or she is expressing his or her own opinion and knowledge of facts. Readers cannot completely trust what is being told.

In the excerpt of "The Black Cat" given in the question, the narrator is expressing how he felt as a means to justify what he did to the cat. It is his own biased explanation, what he felt, not necessarily what really took place. His feeling as if he was possessed may be his own way to rationalize his violent actions. By reading it, the audience gets an explanation, but a biased one.