Edgar Allan Poe Symbolism In The Raven

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“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe is a cult classic poem, such a good poem in fact that it has been read by children in school for many many years. The theme expressed in the poem is everyone experiences grief differently, .In “The Raven” a man (representing Poe) is woken up by a mysterious knock on the door. He investigate but finds nothing, then he hears the name, “Lenore” spoken (Lenore being his late wife.) He then hears tapping at his window. He opens the window and a raven flies in. He then questions the bird but all it responds with is, “nevermore.” At the end the raven's shadow is cast on the floor by a lamp. If this poem has a lot of symbolism that helps contribute to the theme ,contributing symbolism includes the raven, the shadow …show more content…

His mental instability is also proven throughout actions not just what he says, like how the text says “deep in the darkness peering, long I stood there wondering fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” This shows means his mind works differently ( in a delusional sort of way) that other people’s don't. Aside from mentally Poe also struggles emotionally, specifically with depression. A quote that shows this is, “Eagerly I wished the morrow; vainly I sought to borrow from my surcease of sorrow... ” This shows how he is depressed, and as a result wants the days to end, since (in his mind) tomorrow could alway be better than the day …show more content…

The argument is that there is a more correct alternate theme. That arguable theme is death is saddening,This is one of the fitting themes because of a quote about his sorrow for his lost Lenore. This quote shows how death is saddening is an alternate theme to my original theme of everyone experiences grief differently. This is not as correct as my original theme though because of the fact that there is more to the story than him just being sad ,such as his reference to insanity and darkness.
Taking all of this into consideration a reader can concluded that “The Raven” is a well written poem with dark undertones. Well written in the fact it uses vivid adjectives, as well as colorful metaphors , and both help make the story intriguing and meaningful to the reader. The darkness is due to the constant reference to death and depression. An example of the previously stated colorful metaphor is “desolate yet undaunted, on this desert land enchanted.” This means he is lonely as if he were in a desert by

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