Edgar Allan Poe Struggles

688 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Edgar allan poe analysis writing

Edgar Allan Poe had a very tough life, he faced many hardships. The hardships in his life made him a very sad, depressed person and he expresses that through his writings. He was born in 1809 and his father deserted the family right after his birth, a year later his mother died. All the woman in his life that were close to him died. Edgar Allan Poe later joined the army and started his writings. Edgar Allan Poe used himself or made himself similar to the narrator in his stories a lot of times. He expresses his feelings and reflects on his life through his writings, such as his short stories. The short stories that he really seems to express his emotions in are The Black Cat, The Fall of the House of Usher, and The Tell-Tale Heart. The first short story I am going to write about is The Black Cat. The Black Cat is in the horror genre and has Gothic elements in it. The main themes in this short story are perversity, and alcohol abuse. A human being has a perverse, wicked side that can make yourself do evil deeds. The narrator says it was a inner demon that brought his downfall. “Who has not, a hundred times, found himself committing a vile or a silly action, for no other reason than because he knows he should not? Have we not a …show more content…

The main theme of this story is the same as The Black Cat, perversity. A human being has a perverse, wicked side that can make yourself do evil deeds. The narrator of "The Tell-Tale Heart" says in the second paragraph of the story that he committed a senseless crime, saying: "Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire." (Page 3) That shows you human beings can do very bad things with no purpose or very little purpose. Edgar Allan Poe probably did some bad things that had very little purpose around the time he wrote this short

Show More
Related

  • Edgar Allan Poe And Ray Bradbury Comparison

    603 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe lived a very horrifying life. In his early childhood, his father left and his mother died when he was only three years old. He would write poetry on the back of newspapers, then later published some of his most famous works and became a literary sensation. Some stories Poe wrote are, The Tell Tale Heart and The Raven. By the age of 13, Poe had written enough stories that he could’ve published his own book. Edgar Allen Poe’s stories are

    Read More

  • Similarities In Edgar Allan Poe And The Masque Of The Red Death

    1095 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poe was a very experienced author of unique tales. He was born on January 19, 1809 and died on October 7, 1849. He had a dark life growing up because his mother, foster mother, and his wife died from tuberculous. His father abandoned him and his foster father disliked him. This background may have greatly influenced his work. He wrote 70 poems and 66 short stories during his lifetime. Poe has written many Gothic horror stories. “The Tell Tale Heart,” “The Masque of the Red Death,” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” show these similarities.

    Read More

  • Edgar Allan Poe Obstacles

    443 Words  | 1 Pages

    Poe went through many hardships during his life that helped inspire his literary works. Many of his works seem pretty normal at first but then you realize there is an underlying tone of tragedy in his works, just like in his life. Many of his poems are inspired by his friends, family and real life experiences. This supports my thesis because it shows that the people and experiences in his life influenced his choices, his works and his outlook on things.

    Read More

  • The Tell Tale Heart Compare And Contrast Essay

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    The two short stories of “The Tell Tale Heart” and “The Black cat” by renowned author Edgar Allen Poe exemplifies the darkness of what a person can succumb to in certain situations. Both of these marvels share important realizations of thought and subconscious guilt’s. These short stories are used as an example of how two different people in two different situations can have the same reaction in the way of killing someone without remorse. Anger and hatred are major factors in simultaneous tells. The topic for this discussion is to discuss the similarities and differences of these two short stories by Edgar Allen Poe. Could there be more to what actually happens? Do both characters of these stories experience real supernatural events which cause them to lose it or is it a mental reaction which causes the mind to do things that are not

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Tell Tale Heart And Tell Tale Heart

    1860 Words  | 4 Pages

    Tell-Tale Heart, written by Edgar Allan Poe, depicts the inner conflict of a murderer as he retells his story of how he came to kill the old man as a means to prove his sanity. The story is told in the point of view of an unreliable narrator, of whom is greatly disturbed by the eye of a geriatric man. The eye in question is described as evil, irritating the narrator beyond his comprehension, to the point when he has no choice but to get rid of the vexation by destroying the eye. This short story is similar to The Black Cat, of which is also penned by Poe. In The Black Cat, the narrator, albeit unreliable, describes his wrongdoings to the reader. He tells his story of how he murdered his wife, killed one of the two cats, and trapped the other

    Read More

  • Comparing Tell Tale Heart and The Black Cat

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    The two short stories that I have chosen by Edgar Allan Poe are The Tell Tale Heart and The Black Cat.  These two stories in particular have many things in common as far as technique goes, but they do have some significant differences between the two.  In this paper I will try to compare and contrast these two short stories and hopefully bring something to the readers attention that wasn't there at first.

    Read More

  • Edgar Allan Poe's Life and Work

    1406 Words  | 3 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe was an excellent horror, suspense, and mystery writer of the eighteenth century. His use of literary devices and different literary techniques makes this writer important to American literature. This paper will show how Edgar Allan Poe has made an impact on Society and American literature as well as how Edgar Allan Poe developed the short story. I will also discuss and analyze some of his works and techniques he uses in his short stories and poems.

    Read More

  • The Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe

    793 Words  | 2 Pages

    Known for his mystery, macabre and detective fiction genre, Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most remembered poets of all time. Usually when people think of him, mind images of premature burials, murders, madmen, and mysterious women who are taken back from pure death like some zombie-like creatures comes to mind. In 1809, Edgar was born the second son out of three, two of which became actors. After the death of his mother and father at the age of three, John and Francis Allan raised him in Virginia. Edgar was sent to the best boarding schools and later on attended the University of Virginia where he was successfully academic. He was forced to leave due to refusement to pay his gambling debts. In 1827, he moved back to Boston and enlisted in the United States Army where his first poems titled Tamerlane, and Other Poems were published.

    Read More

  • The Life of Edgar Allan Poe

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    The life of Edgar Allan Poe, was stuffed with tragedies that all affected his art. From the very start of his writing career, he adored writing poems for the ladies in his life. When he reached adulthood and came to the realization of how harsh life could be, his writing grew to be darker and more disturbing, possibly as a result of his intense experimenting with opium and alcohol. His stories continue to be some of the most frightening stories ever composed, because of this, some have considered this to be the reason behind these themes. Many historians and literature enthusiasts have presumed his volatile love life as the source while others have credited it to his substance abuse. The influence of his one-of-a-kind writing is more than likely a combination of both theories; but the main factor is the death of many of his loved ones and the abuse which he endured. This, not surprisingly, darkened his perspective considerably.

    Read More

  • The Mysterious Death of Edgar Allen Poe

    1944 Words  | 4 Pages

    First one needs to know some background information on Edgar Allan Poe. Poe was born in Boston, Massachutes, to David Poe and Elizabeth Arnold. He lost both his father, who abandoned the family, and his mother, who died of tuberculosis, at a very young age. He was taken in by John Allan, a wealthy business man. As Poe aged, he and his father relationship became very strained. In 1826, while attending the University of Virginia, Poe and his father had a falling out over his supposed drinking and his gambling debts. In 1827, Poe enlisted in the U.S. Army. After two years of service, his father helped him get accepted into West Point Military Academy. It was only a few months before Poe was expelled from school and disowned by his father. In 1832 he moved to Baltimore to live with his aunt, Mrs. Clemm, and Cousin Virginia. Four years later Poe and his young cousin were married. She soon became very sick and suffered from repeated illness until she died in 1847.

    Read More

  • Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat, The Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado

    1616 Words  | 4 Pages

    In each of Edgar Allen Poe's stories of murder and madness, he takes us inside the mind of the murderer from the time he begins until after the deed has been done. Poe gives us a point of view not common in works of horror and suspense: the killers. We read the thoughts and follow the actions of the killer as he plots and follows through with his victim?s demise. All three of his stories are alike, especially 'The Black Cat' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart.' However, I found that 'The Cask of Amontillado' differ more than any of the other two from each other. While the murderers in 'The Black Cat' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart' are motivated by their own insanity, the character in 'The Cask of Amontillado' is driven by pure, old-fashioned revenge and jealousy. A couple main details I noticed about all three tales is that each story is told in first person, and all of the main characters are male. Also, in the end of each of these short stories all men turn out to be no better, if not much worse, than they already were.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Edgar Allan Poe 's ' The Great Gatsby '

    2335 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...ery genre and for his distinctive writing approach. During his lifetime, Poe faced heartbreaking losses to tuberculosis, went through poverty and suffered from alcoholism. It is apparent in many of his works that the detrimental events in his past had a major impact on his writing. Sadly, despair, misfortune and misery are words that can describe the life of Edgar Allan Poe. These themes are found in numerous of his well-known literary works. From the beginning to the end of his life Poe faced several challenges, which the most significant was dealing with the loss of his beloved family members. Even though, his early works differ from the later poems it is clear that depression and hardship have had a profuse impact on Poe 's writing career. In fact, if life hadn’t been so cruel to him, Poe may have not written the classic stories we’ve come to know and love.

    Read More

  • Edgar Allan Poe Point Of View Essay

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    What is point of view? Point of view is “the speaker, voice, narrator, or persona of a work; the position from details are perceived and related; a centralizing mind or intelligence; not to be confused with opinion or belief “(Roberts, 119). Edgar Allen Poe’s writings use point of view to change the reader’s viewpoint of the reading. “An objective narrator is telling a terrible story objectively might be frightening, but even more frightening is a man telling without emotion the story of his own terrible crime”(Gargano, 52). In Edgar Allen Poe’s collections: The Cask of Amontillado, Black Cat, The Fall of the House of Usher, and The Tell Tale heart he uses the point of view to influence the readers understanding of the selections.

    Read More

  • Disguised Motives for Murder in Short Stories by Edgar Allen Poe

    1419 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout both stories Poe shows that both narrators in “The Black Cat” and “The Tell Tale Hart” long for violence. He does not give clear motives for their crime; instead he leaves the detective work to the readers. After careful analysis of both stories, the reader understands that the narrators’ psychotic perceptions of reality, their domestic lifestyles, and their craving for violence, is the only reason these men commit such heinous acts without reason. The horrific crimes illustrated in these two stories along with his dynamic writing style is what has lead Poe to be one of the most recognizable authors of the 19th century.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis of Poe's The Tell Tale Heart

    1651 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Tell Tale Heart is a story, on the most basic level, of conflict. There is a mental conflict within the narrator himself (assuming the narrator is male). Through obvious clues and statements, Poe alerts the reader to the mental state of the narrator, which is insanity. The insanity is described as an obsession (with the old man's eye), which in turn leads to loss of control and eventually results in violence. Ultimately, the narrator tells his story of killing his housemate. Although the narrator seems to be blatantly insane, and thinks he has freedom from guilt, the feeling of guilt over the murder is too overwhelming to bear. The narrator cannot tolerate it and eventually confesses his supposed 'perfect'; crime. People tend to think that insane persons are beyond the normal realm of reason shared by those who are in their right mind. This is not so; guilt is an emotion shared by all humans. The most demented individuals are not above the feeling of guilt and the havoc it causes to the psyche. Poe's use of setting, character, and language reveal that even an insane person feels guilt. Therein lies the theme to The Tell Tale Heart: The emotion of guilt easily, if not eventually, crashes through the seemingly unbreakable walls of insanity.

    Read More

More about Edgar Allan Poe Struggles

Open Document