The essay is on the story "rats in the walls" I have attached the file also

In Lovecraft’s “ The Rats in the Wall s,” t he black cat acts a s a warning force and tries to

protect the narrator from insanity. First, the cat tries to warn the narrator about the supernatural

forces in the walls of Exham Priory. Then the cat tries to protect the narrator fr om the

supernatural dangers behind the cellar door. Finally, the cat tries to guard the passageways

toward the midnight area so that the narrator will not go ins ide . Ultimatel y, the black cat tries to

prevent the narrator from going into the wilderness of the midnight area , but the nar rator goes

insane because he does not understand the cat’s warnings.

First, the narrator’s black cat tries to warn the narrator ab out the supernatural forces

inside the walls of Exham Priory . For example, when the narrator wakes up at sunrise from a

nightmare, the cat’s head strains forwar d and he seems to look at a point on the wall that seems

to be moving. He then jumps on the tape stry and when it falls down, it shows the bare wall

underneath but no rats . The ca t acts violently toward the tapestry because he wants to warn the

narrator that there is a supernatural force behind the wall and not real rats. The cat wants the

narrator to stop exploring and leave the priory. Then the cat returns to sleep on the narrator’s

feet. T his action shows his loyalty towards the narrator because he wants to keep him safe while

he sleeps. These actions of the cat are the first sign that the cat tries to warn the narrator about

the supernatu ral forces that act against him but the narrator does not understand the warning.

Then the cat tries to protect the narrator from the superna tural dangers behind the cellar

door . For instance, the next night, the narrator and the cat hear the sound of slithering rats from

the walls of the narrator’s bedroom that keep moving further down the lower floors of the house.

The cat runs down all the stairs chasing the supernatural rats and ends up howling at the locked cellar door. The cat chases after these supernatural rats and wants to kill them because the cat

wants to protect the narrator and prevent these supernatural rats from attacking him. The cat’s

howling at the cellar door is to warn the narrato r that the danger is coming from behind the cellar

door. Therefore, these action s of the cat are another sign t hat the cat wants to warn the narrator

about the dangerous supernatural forces.

Finally, the black cat attempts to guard the passageways toward the midnight area and

scare the narrator a way from exploring the true darkness. First , the cat walks steadily towards the

mountain of humanoid bones and monstrously perches on top of them . By resting on top of the

mountain of bones, the cat tries to warn t he narrator about how much danger and death is in the

twilight area. He tries to guard the passageways toward the midnight area because he wants the

narrator to stop exploring the twilight area . He stares at the narrator with his yel low eyes because

he wan ts to scare and warn the narrator with his stares. These actions of the cat show how the cat

wants to warn t he narrator about the supernatural forces acting against him that will cause him to

go insane . Unfortunately, the narrator does not understand the w arnings of the cat. The narrator

ends up going into the midnight area and going insane when he kills and eats Captain Norrys.

Thus, despite the warnings of the cat, the narrator is destroyed.

In concl usion, the narrator’s black cat warn s the narrator abou t the supernatural forces

that act against him. The cat tries to warn the narrator about the supernatural for ces in the walls,

the supernatural dangers behind the cellar door, and the supernatural forces in the midnight area.

Overall, despite the cat doing his best to stop the narrator from going into the wilderness, the

narrator, however, has an unfortunate ending as he goes in sane after entering the midnight area.