Throughout the entire short story "The Rats in the Walls" author H.P Lovecraft switches perspectives of his main character by flashing signs of both insanity, along with sanity. This is a very effective way to capture the attention of the reader, however it also makes you put a lot of close reading into effect to know and comprehend correctly what you are reading. Throughout the entire story, there are many examples of this character being insane. One of the most meaningful quotes for the argument of insanity is "The daemon rats that race behind the padding in this room and beckon me down to greater horrors than I have ever known; the rats they can never hear; the rats, the rats in the walls."(Lovecraft, 45). However in comparison to the argument of him being insane, Lovecraft also provides examples of him being sane. "If of healthier inclinations, it was said, and heir would early and mysteriously die to make way for another scion."(Lovecraft, 33). 

There are many times toward the beginning of the short story that there are many times in which he talks about his ancestors and does not quite give us enough information to understand his background. Personally this set the stage for the rest of the story. As the story continues, there are more and more hints showing a dark, questionable background this man comes from. Without this lack of explaining, the story would not be nearly as dramatic as it is. Lovecraft worked this masterfully, using both sides of sanity along with the constant hints toward his background to not only keep the readers interested, but also asking themselves questions about the text. 

Lovecraft does an extremely good job at not only keeping the reader into the story, but also writes in a style that makes you have the desire to keep reading. Throughout the story the author portrays the main character as one of two things. Some may look at him and consider him crazy, as others may think he is just a hated man living in the wrong place.  To add to Lovecraft's unique writing style it is foreshadowed throughout the entire story of Delapore's life that he is neither crazy nor sane, just cursed. The quote "Of my family before this date there is no evil report, but something strange must have happened then. In one chronicle there is a reference to a de la Poer as "cursed of God" (Lovecraft, 33) shows the obvious curse that he was born into.  Right after this quote Lovecraft states "The worst characters, apparently, were the barons and their direct heirs; at least, most was whispered about these." (Lovecraft, 33). This quote shows Delapores's knowledge of being born into a rather disturbing family that was not cared for at all by the locals. Throughout the story the fact that he is "cursed" makes his life so much harder. Knowing that there is no one to go to be one of the reasons that so many think that there is something wrong with him.

Many people look at Delapore's character and they think of one that is mentally insane. They have very good reason to as well due to some of the things that he not only does, but also that are said about him.  There are numerous quotes throughout the entire story supporting this statement. However this is an argument that will drag out over quite a long while and will never come to an agreement.  Lovecraft constructed his story by giving an example of him being looked at as insane, then backs that up with a statement of him being sane, maybe just cursed. This is a very effective style of writing because it not only makes that story more interesting, but it also keeps the readers very interacted with the content.  

A select few have the opinion that Delapore is not insane, but indeed completely sane. The quote "This deliberate slaughter which included a father, three brothers, and two sisters was largely condoned by the villagers, and so slackly treated by the law that its perpetrator escaped honoured, unharmed, and undisguised to Virginia; the general whispered sentiment being that he purged the land of an immoral curse." (Lovecraft 35) This quote shows that the area that he lives in is a very hard place to remain in a sane state of mind. People have been hating his family for as long as he can look back and that continued throughout his life. This is why people have the impression, or thoughts that Delapore is insane. No one gives him the opportunity to prove them wrong due to the fact that no one is around him. A perfect example is him not only talking to his cat, but naming it and treating it like another human in his life. This goes to show the true isolation he lives in, making it almost impossible to remain "normal". 

Lovecraft throughout the entire story writes with long, descriptive sentence structure. Doing this he gives the readers a very in depth personal look at some things that would not have been like that if he didn't. Lovecraft writes in an elaborate style, using much detail and explanations. An example of his elaborate writing style is "It must have been the rats; the vicious, gelatinous, ravenous army that feast on the dead and the living." In this example he goes into very deep detail talking about the rats and what he believes they are capable of. 
