"The Angel of the Odd - An Extravaganza" is an E. A. Poe's tale written in 1844, which seems to be more absurdly comic than deep. In this story, Poe writes about humans exposed to odd situations, and he tries to tell us that it would be ridiculous for us to be against the odd.
The writer portraits himself inside a guiltless character who believes, after reading about the freak death of a man, that all situations labeled as something odd are "a contemptible falsehood- a poor hoax- the lees of the invention of some pitiable penny-a-liner." By this sentence, the character claims that the oddest things are those which are told to be odd, and he reveals himself as a person with such a squared mind that it is impossible for him to give credibility an important space.
After saying those words, a little German creature appears in front of the character, revealing itself as "The Angel of the Odd." The Angel gives him several zips of alcohol that put him to sleep. In that state, the man acquires an incredible desire of killing himself. By that, the "Angel of the Odd" represents the image of pure revenge; a concrete form of an unexplainable feeling which seems to act against us every time we deny things we know are true, but we are just too afraid to accept them.
Edgar Allan Poe claims in his tale that we should loose our innocence, and that we must be open-minded when it comes to criticism. He says that we must accept all things that might happen, no matter how ridiculous or impossible they might be. In everyday life, such a statement makes total sense; everyday life portraits realities that are hard for us to understand, from sexual behavior to euthanasia, from people who dies for throwing up a piece of gum after saving themselves of a huge car accident, to those who died in the twin towers.
Edgar Allan Poe tries to make us understand that by denying what is odd, our own life can get us through actions, phases or extravagant journeys which are even oddest, making us feel almost as an idiotic piece of meat.
Edgar Allen Poe is known for his dark yet comedic approach toward the his theme of his stories. Likewise, Poe’s themes have gathered many fans due to his impression of reasoning in his stories. The author uses thinking and reasoning to portray the theme. Poe’s unique diction comprehends with the theme of the story. Poe has a brilliant way of taking gothic tales of mystery, and terror, and mixing them with variations of a romantic tale by shifting emphasis from, surface suspense and plot pattern to his symbolic play in language and various meanings of words.
Redfield, J. S. "The Genius of Poe." Foreword. The Works of Edgar Allan Poe. Ed. A.C. Armstrong & Son. New York: A.C. Armstrong & Son., 1884. xv-xxvi. EPUB file.
Poe endured more than any individual should endure, and experienced so much negativity it was almost inevitable that the theme of insanity would appear in his works. He suffered from an excessive amount of hardships and tragedies throughout his life that placed him on the brink of insanity. The first sign of Poe’s insanity is found in his short story “The Black Cat” where the narrator claims “mad [he] is not”. Present in the state of denial, Poe’s character will say or do anything to relinquish the claim of ...
When they first find the old man, the villagers claim that “he’s an angel” (Marquez 1). There is no denying the man’s divinity but he seems to represents much more than your average angel. In fact, the old man doesn’t resemble the typical image of an angel at all. Rather than being a young and pure angel, he is “much too human” with his “unbearable smell”. His angelic wings are even “strewn with parasites” with mistreated feathers (2). This contrasting imagery, however, doesn’t completely undermine the old man’s divinity; rather it draws attention to his lackluster appearance. The disappointments we feel towards the old man along with his particular characteristics make him remarkably similar to the one of bible’s tragic heroes; he is th...
Weber, Jean-Paul. "Edgar Poe or The Theme of the Clock." Poe: A Collection of Critical Essays. ED. Robert Regan. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. 79-97.
Poe’s frightening stories acts as helpful inspiration for entertainment in the present, and for many years to come. The timeless relevance of his work, and its merciless scrutiny of the human condition, solidifies its place in history and its position of high admiration. In conclusion, the extraordinary-fleeting-tragic life of Edgar Allan Poe will forever remain on record as the tale of an orphan, a gentleman, a soldier, and one of the most prominent literary figures in American history.
Often times within literary history, authors have chosen to rely on unreliable narrators to add a veil of mysticism and sympathy to their twisted plots. Numerous authors attempt to make the reader believe that the unreliable narrator is in desperate need of compassion and understanding; however, Poe uses unreliable narrators to twist about the reality of the tale just enough to make the reader doubt everything within the story. This technique, employed by Poe in many of his works, adds a layer of mystery and uncertainty that becomes expected within his unique storylines. No author knows “twisted plots” more so than the morbid and abnormal Edgar Allen Poe. In his story, “The Black Cat, Poe uses an unreliable narrator to intensify the story by making the plotline doused with sporadic moments of truth in order to truly create a fine line between what is the truth and what is not.
...e that even if they are having a hard life, something beautiful will happen someday to take you out of that ugly and ordinary position, just like the arrival of the angel. Marquez demonstrates that even if someone is physically and/or mentally different, he always has beautiful aspects, just like the villagers described the old man as ugly but they called it “angel” which is a beautiful supernatural being. The story shows also that even in things we dislike or find gross, there is always something great and beautiful. Through these fictional devices, we can clearly see the theme of see the beauty in the ugly and ordinary. This story should convince many people that even if they are going through tough moments in their life, they simply have to look from an outside point of view and they will find out that there is always something beautiful in the ugly and ordinary.
Edgar Allan Poe's deplorable life was filled with unfortunate calamity, endless tragedies, and pathetic misery, which inevitably led to his pessimistic view on life and obsession with death. His personal mind frame is automatically conveyed in his essays, which for him was a primary form of expression. Thus, a strong emphasis on somber despondency has proven to be a thematic element of his literary career.
Edgar Allan Poe’s haunting poems and morbid stories will be read by countless generations of people from many different countries, a fact which would have undoubtedly provided some source of comfort for this troubled, talented yet tormented man. His dark past continued to torture him until his own death. These torturous feelings were shown in many of his works. A tragic past, consisting of a lack of true parents and the death of his wife, made Edgar Allan Poe the famous writer he is today, but it also led to his demise and unpopularity.
Through Poe’s short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” the readers are able to understand the process and thought behind the narrator motives in wanting to murder the old man. Poe incorporates numerous language devices to terrify the readers of ‘what is out there’ by portraying the narrator being terribly anxious and overwhelmed which symbolises many individuals that live in today’s society. This therefore provides the readers with a sense of fear within them as they may question whom they can trust as any individual can contain the urge to commit murder when placed under pressure or faces with a fear.
Edgar Allan Poe is a popular all around the world. He is seen as a dark, mysterious writer. Looking into his life experiences, it explains why his stories are so dark. Readers who do not know his background stories may think he is a crazy, mentally unstable man. But to really understand the depth of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories, it is important and useful to look into the reasoning of why the stories are so dark.
...story, the narrator continues to repeat himself over and over, along with question why the reader should have any uncertainty about his psychological state. Additionally, the narrator continues to defend his sanity by telling the reader that he cannot be considered crazy because he was mindful and took caution in his actions: “You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded -- with what caution -- with what foresight, with what dissimulation, I went to work!” (1). With Poe’s writing style and use of language he achieves an emotion of genuine doubt about the narrator’s true mental state. Moreover, Poe reveals the narrator’s fear of the “vulture eye” and his peculiar obsession with it until he is finally able to eliminate it.
Does the narrator show weakness through this mental illness or is it a sophistical mind of a genius? This is the question that must be answered here. Throughout this discussion we will prove that the narrator is a man of a conscience mind and committed the crime of murder. Along with that we will expose Poe’s true significance of writing this short story, and how people were getting away with crime by justifying that they were insane.
Edgar Allan Poe, is one of the most brilliant literary writers in history. He wrote many poems and short stories throughout his rather short lifetime, most of which encompassed such themes as death, destruction, and madness. These intriguing, and often frightening tales, as well as his clever use of a multitude of literary tactics, is what set him apart from the rest, and what makes him so popular still today. Reading his work, one is sure to wonder where these ideas came from. However, a little research into past will certainly open the doors to a better understanding of his writing.