The Importance of Landscape in A Tale of the Ragged Mountains

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The Importance of Landscape in A Tale of the Ragged Mountains

In his article, Philippon begins by discussing the importance that the landscape plays in "A Tale of the Ragged Mountains." First, he quotes William Carlos Williams as saying that Poe was "intimately shaped by his locality and time," although he tends to focus on the "soul" of his surroundings, rather than the physical aspects. Philippon then goes on to say that he believes that Poe does, in fact, use the physical landscape in this particular story in order to highlight the differences between the make-believe environment of the Indian landscape of the story and that of the Ragged Mountains. The author says that this is "crucial to a complete understanding of the story."

The large part of "Ragged Mountains," however, deals with the mental condition of the characters. Philippon sites the thoughts of another critic, Doris V Falk, when he discusses the other landscape of the story -- that of the mind. She believes that Poe intended this story to be "a study in hypnosis" with a "focus on animal magnetism...

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