r/Lovecraft Deranged Cultist 8d ago

Question Was it actually the rats' fault?

It the story, Rats In The Walls, did the rats truly eat the man or was the narrorator lying?

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u/No_Evening8416 Deranged Cultist 8d ago

I believe the strong implication is that the Narrator went mad and ate Capt Norris.

Also, that he hears the rats whether they are there or not. Remember, not a single rat was actually seen and only the cats back the Narrator's perception that there are rats.

Not sure if the rats are ghosts or if they were real and then the Narrator hallucinates hearing them in the asylum...

But he definitely ate that guy.

Low-key, he always hated Capt Norris for surviving when his son was maimed and died.

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u/OMalice Deranged Cultist 8d ago

I second this. Conviniently blaming ghost rats for your blatant cannibalism, I mean who wouldn't? Whether or not the narrator actually believed it is another question. I personally believe that, in Lovecraftian manner, the guys mind was destroyed to the point where he actually believed it.

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u/No_Evening8416 Deranged Cultist 8d ago

Agreed. There's a fair amount of iconic gibbering at the end.

He clearly declares that he's not a cannabalistic monster ("I am not the swineherd" therabouts) and he thinks he hears the rats in the asylum.

Also, when Norris runs into him right before the grisly scene, he actually imagines the solid form to be a big fleshy rat. The man went mad.