The Significance of Edgar Allan Poe's Fiction
In the beginning of the 1800's many writers emerged in America, but most were frowned upon because their writing did not interest the public. One may think that writers are boring, but writers and poets were the rock stars of the nineteenth century. Some of the most famous authors used their philosophy to explore the dark side of one's mind. Poe's use of horror scared most of his readers away during his time, but now he is being commended for his unique style and ingenious works. Edgar Allan Poe has profoundly influenced literature along with movies and stories. He is credited with the transformation of the short story from anecdote to art. Using his amazing imagination, Poe was able to create a fantasies in his fiction to strengthen his plot and lasting impression. Edgar Allan Poe uses unique narration, time devices, and unusual settings in his tales to explain how fantasy can become reality. Edgar Allan Poe uses unique narration in his tales occasionally to let the reader enter the confused mind of the narrator. Many of Poe's stories include a nameless narrator telling his stories. "Nameless narrators occur frequently in Poe's tales which are know for their docility and humanity of disposition" (Lowell 7). Tales inclu
ding "The Masque of the Red Death" and "The Tell-tale Heart" give background information, but Poe never introduces the narrator. However, each narrator is distinct from eachother in all the stories. Some of the narrators are sane and some are insane. "Poe reminds us quite often what a fine line separates sanity from insanity" (Warren 2). Poe includes a nameless narrator in his tales by frequently using first person narration. Poe uses first person narration to "intensify the horror" by not stating a name so the story can apply to anyone (Fagin 68). In "M Valdemar" Poe wants to reader to feel like he is in the story at the bed of a dying man by trying to make this fantasy seem real. When a name is not given, the reader feels like he is in place of the narrator. The reader is able to experience all the confusion and anxiety that the narrator is feeling. This gives a more realistic appearance to the fantasy that Poe is creating. Poe's narrators all seem to be in a dream throughout his stories. Martha Womack agrees that the reader "glimpses into the soul of a man (narrator) who dwells in mournful and never-ending remembrance" (Womack 1). In "The Tell-tale Heart" the narrator and the reader both experience "madness" and "confusion"(Poe 800). James Gargano believes that Poe "understands his narrators better they understand themselves" (Gargano 309). The narrator is "beyond the wildest imagination enshrouded in pitchy darkness" in "MS in a bottle" (Poe 136). These narrators of his stories all seem to a be in a terrible reality, which is characterized by intense dreaming. According to James Lowell "the narrators mind often has gone over the brink of sleep and descended into dreams" (Lowell 7). "The Fall of the House of Usher" includes the phrase "they who by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night" (Poe 536). Poe's narrators descend into a fantasy by dreaming. The narrators have "dreamt themselves free of their physical body" according to David Halliburton (Halliburton 24). In "MS. in a Bottle" the narrator explains that "there will occasionally flash across my mind a sensation of familiar things...an unaccountable memory" (Poe 140). The narrator is in dream, so he is having reality checks to find out if he is really experiencing these fantasies. Poe uses his ingenious narration to pull his reader into the dreaming mind of the narrator in which anything could become reality. Not only does Edgar Allan Poe use unique narration, but he also includes many time devices in his tales to enter the imagination of the reader. In Poe's short stories he presents many clocks and clock's imagery. "But
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Approximate Word count = 1793
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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