Many different interpretations can come from a single text, simply because of the different perspectives of the readers. Each original perspective determines the interpretations that the reader takes from the story. The reader can't control his perspective of the story, because the reader's perspective is constantly changing during the story. In this story the reader's perspective changed several times, from Delapore just peacefully living in the house, to rats haunting the house, to the confusing conclusion of the story. The author's language changes throughout the story, thus changing the reader's interpretation of the story. In this story the Delapore bloodline holds significant power, this power allows them to command, "The Rats in the Wall", to do their bidding.

At the beginning of Delapore's journey, when his ancestor Walter de la pore fled to Virginia to start a family that was soon known as the Delapores. Delapore talks of his son, Alfred that fought in the First World War. He states that his son wrote Delapore about, "ancestral legends" (Lovecraft 42). The Delapores had a, colorful and sinister history. This is the first time we hear of the evil that lies within this bloodline.  Right after this Delapore introduces, Captain Edward Norrys, and this man doesn't seem to believe the legends that Alfred told Delapore. "Norrys himself, of course, did not take them seriously"(42), this is a sign of foreshadowing by Lovecraft, although this wouldn't be noticed unless the story was re-read. These legends are what made Delapore interested in his heritage, because of his curiosity he bought the old, "family seat" and began to restore the, Exham Priory. The Exham Priory was the household that Delapore's ancestors lived in over many centuires. Delapore describes the, Exham Priory as, "medival ruins"(42), Delapore also talks about the architecture of the building. He states that the architecture of the building looks, "Druidical" (43) a druid is a priest from Britain that appears in legends from the Irish and Welsh. Describing the Exham Priory as a druid leads one to believe that there was a secret order, and a priest is involved in a specific kind of worship. Delapore makes another reference to the worshipping of, "Cybele" (43), a god of nature from Greek legends. This leads the reader to, "Magna Mater" (43) which means Great Mother in Latin and could be referring to four different deities, one of which is Cybele. Lovecraft then makes a reference to the evil that lies within the Delapore bloodline, when he says, "dark worship"(43). The language used when describing the cellar and the architecture tells the reader that Delapore's ancestors did worship a higher being and the worship was evil. The goddess, Cybele that Delapore's ancestors worshipped was the god of nature, so it would seem the god of nature would have control of the plants, animals, and Rats. Cybele had many worshippers that performed, "nameless ceremonies" (43) at the command of a priest. Lovecraft describes the ceremonies again as, "orgies" (43) implying only that there was a significant amount of pleasure occurring at the temple. This pleasure was received by the priest preforming the ceremony and Cybele. Delapore states that before his ancestor, "Gilbert de la Poer", received the Exham Priory from Henry the Third there had been "no evil reports"(43). When Delapore begins to talk about the, "Fireside tales" (43) told of his heritage he states they are, "frightened reticence"(43) and "cloudy evasiveness"(43). This is a case where both of these phrases mean the same thing but the author utilizes this strategy because he wants to put emphasis on the fact that there is something from the legend of his bloodline that he doesn't want to tell us. Possibly Delapore didn't even know of this, and that is how Lovecraft created suspense for the reader.

The way that Lovecraft brings the rats into the story is quiet interesting, Delapore never sees the rats he, "heard a low, distinct scurrying of rats or mice"(47). The reader then see Delapore's cat jump onto the Tapestry and bring it to the floor, which reveals an "ancient wall of stone"(47).Then it is stated that, "Nigger-man", starts "clawing" on the wall but found nothing. This animal, "Nigger-man", is under the control of the deity Cybele, just as the rats are. We will see that "Nigger man" is under the command of this deity and lures Delapore and Capt. Norrys to the "rats". The next morning Delapore asked his servants if they had noticed anything in the night. All but one cook said they did not notice anything unusual. The one thing the cook saw was Delapore's other cat on the windowsill and this cat, "howled at some unknown hour night", the cat then ran down the stairs.  He states that the cat, "darts purposefully" down the stairs, the cat has a specific purpose for running down the stairs and this happened at, "some unknown hour of the night". The language used by Lovecraft to describe the actions of the cats is no coincidence, he does this to show that the cats play an important role in leading Delapore to the, "rats". Delapore then tells us about a dream he has the next night, he states that, "a mighty swarm of rats rained down on the stinking abyss and fell to devouring beasts and man alike"(47). Delapore's dream should have made him more aware of the situation he was in. However, he has no time to even think about the dream because he is woken by, "Nigger man". This is no surprise to the reader at this point because it is easy to notice Lovecraft's language throughout the story about the cats and how they react to the sound of the rats. It is almost as if this god of nature, Cybele, doesn't want Delapore to be aware of the events that are about to unfold, or he's oblivious. When Delapore talks about what he thinks of the legends and the, "Fireside tales" (43), the villagers would tell, Delapore wants to change his family's legacy. He states, "It must not be imagined that these tales formed my principal psychological environment" (45). The reason that he refurbished the Exham Priory was because Delapore wanted to redeem his family's name from the terrifying tales that were told by people in the area. Delapore may have never known what was going to happen when he and Norrys went to the sub-cellar, however there are clues in Lovecraft's language that would imply that the author knew what was going to happen. The clue that Lovecraft gives the reader is the same night he had the dream, right after he is woken up by, "Nigger man" hissing. Delapore has no doubt in his mind what his cat is hissing about, the "rats". Delapore flicks on the light, and sees a, "hideous shaking all over the tapestry" (47), Lovecraft then states this shaking seems to, "execute a singular dance of death" (47). This singular dance of death can be seen at the very end the story, when Norrys loses his life for some unknown reason.  The name De la Poer provides evil connotation, based on how Delapore described his bloodline earlier in the story. Delapore understands his Family's history but then states that he wants to lead a different life than his ancestors did. However, he chooses to buy the very castle in which his ancestors resided in for many centuries, and refurbishes it. The reader should know that if he wanted to carve a different path than his ancestors, he would not have bought the household his evil ancestors lived in. Delapore does not know it but he isn't in control of what is going on in the house, the house was always owned by the "de la Poer" family. The rats seem to become a metaphor for the bloodline that is connected to the house Delapore purchased, because of the violent acts committed by his ancestors.

 On the second to last page you can see Delapore act as he is supposed to act, how his bloodline acted for many centuries. He states, "It was not Edward Norrys' fat face on that flabby, fungous thing! Who says I am a de la Poer? He lived, but my boy died! Shall a Norrys hold the land of a de la Poer?"(54). Here you can see Delapore's anger from his son's death, it seems as though Delapore is channeling that anger towards Norrys, and the "rats" recognize this anger in the De la Poer. The "rats" act on command from the De la Poer and murdered or "devoured" Norrys. Delapore tells us himself, "They must know it was the rats; the slithering, scurrying rats whose scampering will never let me sleep". Delapore seemed to be oblivious to the power that his bloodline gave him. Delapore was cursed by this power, even in the end he blames the death of Norrys on the rats.

There are two ways to interpret the story after hearing this line. Either, the rats acted on the command of the Delapore's anger or the rats were simply a metaphor for the history of Delapore's bloodline, a history from which Delapore could not escape. If Delapore knew that his family had an evil history and saw signs of "Magna Mater" in the house that he refurbished, and he truly wanted to escape his family's past. He should have ran from his bloodline's legacy, instead he tried to embrace it with the complete polar opposite mentality compared to that of his ancestors. Delapore deserves no sympathy because he was ignorant to the act that he came from an evil past, an evil bloodline.

