Throughout the story the narrator tries to convince the reader that he is not "crazy", but in fact very intelligent. He states that “illness has sharpened my senses – it has not destroyed them” (Poe 1127) then goes on to say “madmen know nothing. But you should have looked like me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded” (Poe 1127). The killer wants to be perceived as wise and intelligent when in reality he is crazy. Due to his mental instability and contradictory actions he proves to be an unreliable narrator. The narrator's reasons for killing the old man make no sense and are advanced by solidifying the idea of ​​the mad man. The narrator says “It is impossible to say how the idea entered my brain” (Poe 1127) even though he does not know where the idea to kill the man came from. He further states, “I loved the old one. He had never hurt me." (Poe 1127) there was no motivation of revenge. The narrator eliminates another possible motive by saying “For his gold I had no desire” (Poe 1127) so all the practical reasons for killing someone did not motivate him to kill. The physical appearance of the man's pale blue eye is what drove the narrator to kill, which questions the narrator's mind.