Vega 1

Nathan Vega

British Literature - Period 1

Mr. Vigil

31 March 2017

Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe can be considered one of the most well known, influential American

writers of his time. Poe is famous for a multitude poems, novels, and short stories. In addition to

being credited with the creation of the modern detective story, Poe is also deemed responsible for

the popularization of mystery and horror within literature (biography.com). Just as his stories

exude a sense of mystery, so do certain events that occurred during Poes life. The themes of

death, suffering, darkness that appear in Poes works are a result of a life filled with themes of a

similar variety. While it is true that Poe had an extremely vivid imagination, it clear that certain

events in his life inspired him to write in the way that he does. Throughout his life, Poe had to

endure a plethora of tribulations that led him to spiral into a state of depression, constant

gambling, and alcoholism. Whether is was being kicked out of University, the loss of his foster

mother, the loss of his beloved wife, or his struggles with poverty, Poe had to experience many

hardships. The toll that these events took on Poes psyche is evidently expressed through his

short stories, The Cask of Amontillado and The Tell Tale Heart . Both The Cask of Amontillado

and The Tell Tale Heart contain key aspects of Poes writing as well as the essence of mystery

and horror that Poe is well known for. Not only do these short stories exemplify the same themes
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that are concurrent throughout many of Poes works, they are also blatantly inspired by Poes

life.

Throughout Poes life he wrote these works reflecting the world around him. As a child

he did not know his parents, having a rough life since birth. He was also separated from the rest

of his family members at a young age. All of this took affect of Poes psyche and it was shown in

his works like The Tell Tale Heart:

I stood up and walked quickly around the room. I pushed my chair across the floor to

make more noise, to cover that terrible sound. I talked even louder. And still the men sat

and talked, and smiled. Was it possible that they could not hear? No! They heard! I was

certain of it. They knew! Now it was they who were playing a game with me. I was

suffering more than I could bear, from their smiles, and from that sound. Louder, louder,

louder! Suddenly I could bear it no longer. I pointed at the boards and cried, Yes! Yes, I

killed him. Pull up the boards and you shall see! I killed him. But why does his heart not

stop beating?! Why does it not stop!? (poe 67)

In this block quote it is the main character of the story hearing the man's heartbeat that he killed

under the floorboards. The man hears this while the police are asking him about the man he

killed. This is showing some of poes favorite themes guilt and madness. The man feels guilty

for killing him and goes mad. He tells the police and confessed to the murder. In ways this
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relates to poes life and how he dealt with death all of his life. From a young child losing his

parents onto his adulthood him losing his wife. All of the tragedies in his life was put into his

writing, in either a outlet or as a way to tell people about the emptiness of the soul. This shows

the state of depression and how he had to deal with it. To overcome these obstacles he used his

writings to do this, it is also shown in his other short story The Cask of Amontillado where this

style of horror reflecting his life is written:

Of course. As we drink the Amontillado.

But is it not late? Should we not be going back? They will be expecting us. Let us go.

Yes. Let us go.

As I said this I lifted the last stone from the ground. Montresor! For the love of God!!

Yes. For the love of God!

I heard no answer. Fortunato! I cried. Fortunato. I heard only

a soft, low sound, a half-cry of fear. My heart grew sick; it must have been the cold. I

hurried to force the last stone into its position. And I put the old bones again in a pile

against the wall. For half a century now no human hand has touched them. May he rest in

peace! (poe 57)

In this quote from The Cask of Amontillado it is when Fortunato is lured into the catacombs and

is tricked. He starts to get drunk with montresor and thinks it's a fun game they are playing. What

Fortunato does not know that it is his demise. This is a recurring theme in poe's stories, theme of
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revenge and death. Poe dealt with many deaths in his lives from his mother dying when he was

young and his father dying from tuberculosis. It is clearly shown through his writings because it

is a recurring theme that is seen on most of his stories.

In his life poe dealt with many problems from drinking to depression even though he

want through all of this his works were still some of the greatest of all time. Some say that all of

this that happened to him is what was the drive for his great career. It was the fuel for all of his

writings, dealing with all of this might not have been great for his mind but it was the start to a

great writing style that not many people at the time have seen. It was different it was dark and it

was dark because poes life was very dark and he did not write about happy ending short stories

because that is not how his life was. The author is supposed to take the reader on a journey

through his twists and turns and when reading poe's work it is like seeing snippets from his life

because of how dark the stories were that he wrote. He wrote like that because of all he had to

deal with from death to suffering to depression and though all of that he became one of the

greatest authors of all time. These events were expressed through his short stories, The Cask of

Amontillado and The Tell Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado and The Tell Tale Heart

these short stories hold poe's life on paper, everything that occurred in his lifetime it was shown

in all of his works.

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Works Cited

http://www.biography.com/people/edgar-allan-poe-9443160

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1063/1063-h/1063-h.htm

https://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/the_tell-tale_heart_0.pdff

http://www.easybib.com
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