The Ghastly Writings of Poe Essay - 1466 Words

The Ghastly Writings of Poe Edgar Allen Poe makes tales of imagination and fantasies the irrefutable realms of fear. His tales and poems â€Å"have influenced the literary schools of symbolism†¦as well as the popular genres of detective and horror fiction (Stern xxxviii). However, as many of Poe’s tales and poems conjure terror and trepidation, they also penetrate the imagination with fantasy. Poe repeatedly attempts and succeeds at making his readers endure analogous feelings as those characters in his works. The most common realms Poe writes about are dreams, fantasies, the subconscious, and glimpses of the afterlife. These realms cannot be directly represented since individuals cannot directly comprehend them. Poe, acknowledged†¦show more content†¦Usually, in his tales of terror and death, ghastly occurrences take place under the light of a blood-red moon. â€Å" ‘Fantasy,’ E.M. Forester has said, ‘implies the supernatural, but need not express it’ † (Stern 55). To many, the ultimate fantasy involves a ghost or some other apparition. Poe never writes a â€Å"ghost story†, oddly enough. A ghost, in the sense that we ordinarily think of one, never appears in Poe’s writings. Poe’s characters, â€Å"†¦are not spectral visions but the resuscitated dead who rise from the tomb to confront the living with their†¦flesh† (Stern 55). Poe, nevertheless, creates characters that have no real existence. Poe has two main personalities: the hardworking editor, intellectual critic, the respectable citizen, and â€Å"the disreputable fellow, who frequented low dives and who often wound up literally in the gutter† (Stern 55). Poe makes present the outcome of the lifelong struggle between his two warring selves in â€Å"William Wilson†. In this story, William Wilson repr esents Poe. This tale tells the most about Poe and gives its audience the greatest insight into the workings of Poe’s mind. In â€Å"William Wilson† Poe writes not a tale but a symbolic confession. Poe considers himself as a poet, although, he leaves only fifty poems to the world. Poe says of himself, â€Å"with me poetry has not been a purpose but a passion† (Stern 586). Poe’s poems concern his love, hisShow MoreRelatedThe Pit and the Pendulum vs. Dr. Heideggers Experiment: Not Quite so Different859 Words   |  4 Pagesclosely clear similarities can be found. Subtle literary devices and themes tie these two seemingly dissimilar stories and authors together. Both Poe and Hawthorne focused on the use of detailed descriptions of scenery to create a mood for their stories. In fact, in both stories almost half of what is written is a description of the setting. Poe uses the dungeon in â€Å"The Pit and the Pendulum† to create a sense of doom and despair that plays a part throughout his story. Near the beginning of theRead MoreEdgar Allan Poe Essay1575 Words   |  7 PagesEdgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe was a bizarre and often scary writer. 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