Edgar Allen Poe 5
Edgar Allan Poe is a man who is considered to be a true American genius of our time. After reading one of his works in class, I realized that his mysterious style of writing appealed to me. His works have been collected and celebrated for over a hundred years from this day. He was a man whose dreary horror tales captured and frightened the minds of millions. Poe differed from most other acclaimed writers. The readers of his work do not admire him because they fall in love with his characters or because his writing touches their hearts. On the contrary, his readers admire him because he managed to change reality for them. Edgar Allan Poe's skill was developed in his subject matter of death and its horrid truths. Poe's tales centered away from the life of a man and towards the effects of death on a man, whether it be his own, or that of another. Poe was adept at creating an atmosphere of suspense and the minimum use of words and dramatic effects. Although many critics have different views on Poe's writing style, I think that Harold Bloom summed it up best when he said, "Poe has an uncanny talent for exposing our common nightmares and hysteria lurking beneath our carefully structured lives" (Bloom, 7).
The rest of his life, Poe suffered from severe mental depression and declining physical health. In 1838, he published his only novel, "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym". In December 1839, he lost his job because of the intense rumors of his excessive drinking habits. By late 1846, financial woes and Poe's own continuing decline ended the magazine. In January 1847, his wife died in their cottage at Fordham. This made his poverty and instability worse. He continued to write and engaged in unsuccessful publishing schemes and romances, until, October 3, 1849, Joseph W. Walker found him unconscious, in the street. Poe remained hospitalized oscillating between a somatic state and violent delirium, until his death at 5 a.m. on October 7, 1849. Poe's best known works include such masterpieces as Annabel Lee, The Raven, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Mask of the Red Death, The Murders of the Rue Morgue, and many others. Each and every one of these titles, among others, share the common trait that is more than evident, they all deal with death. When these titles monopolize the attention, it is only natural that the central body of Poe's work should be seen to be a tissue of nightmares. This subject is so repulsive to mankind, yet at the same time it attracts so many people. Perhaps it isn't the subject, but the skill with which it was written that lured people to it. Fish are lured to a deadly hook but the bait makes it beautiful. In this same manner, the beauty and genius of Poe's work mesmerize people. The better question is what is it that drove Poe to become so obsessed with death? Why is it that he portrayed his genius through this topic? The only true way to answer these questions is through a deep analysis of not only Poe's works, but his life and his mind. oston on January 19, 1809. Poe's father abandoned the family shortly before his mother's death, which was December 8, 1811. John Allen, a wealthy tobacco merchant in Richmond, brought Poe into the family (at his wife's request), and gave him the middle name Allen as a baptismal name, though he never
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Approximate Word count = 1411
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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