I've got a paper due on Wednesday over two of Edgar Allen Poe's stories. One is "The Black Cat". I've got everything down except one part. I was wondering what exactly interferes with the main character getting away with murder at the end? I've been having a horrible time trying to figure that out.
Thanks for asking this question. I enjoyed rereading a summary of this story. The cat had crept into the wall niche with the narrator's dead wife. Of course he had rebricked and sealed the wall, not realizing that the cat was in the wall with the corpse. The narrator, in bragging about the soundness of the wall, knocked on it. The cat heard it and begain wailing -- alerting the police that it was in there.
So -- two things convicted the narrator -- his own remorseless pride in concealing the murder, and the cat.
http://www.poedecoder.com/essays/blackcat/#summary
In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat," the main character's attempt to get away with murder is ultimately interrupted by two factors. The first factor is the narrator's own pride and arrogance in thinking he can successfully hide his crime. Throughout the story, the narrator boasts about his cunning and skill in concealing the murder, which showcases his overconfidence in his abilities. This arrogance ultimately leads to his downfall.
The second factor that interferes with the main character getting away with murder is the presence of the black cat. Unbeknownst to the narrator, when he sealed the wall where he had hidden his wife's corpse, the cat was also trapped inside. When the narrator taps on the wall to demonstrate its solidity to the police, the cat responds by wailing, revealing its presence and drawing the attention of the authorities. The cat becomes a witness to the crime, exposing the truth and leading to the narrator's capture.
Therefore, it can be said that the main character's downfall in "The Black Cat" is the result of his own pride and the inadvertent revelation of the crime by the black cat.