Adversity In Edgar Allan Poe's 'Mesmeric Revelation'

In the fall of 2012, my mother almost succumbed to her illness. I had just begun my freshman year of high school midst angry conversations between my parents and the threat of separation. It would seem as if they bickered about the most irrelevant things, almost as if they had no other reason to fight other than the fight itself. Those moments were excruciatingly lonely, my father worked until the dead of night and my mother would come home exhausted from treatment. I now know that there was no one who felt more unvalued than my mother. I wish I had the ability to iron away this blunder that destiny had fabricated, however foolish this desire is.

Edgar Allan Poe, an often misinterpreted literary mastermind known predominantly by his extraordinary tales of horror, the supernatural, forbidden love, madness, and mystery, is more than meets the eye. Though his genres of expertise may indicate otherwise, Poe was a very social person, having been raised as a gentleman, and he had more hands on military experience than any other major American author in history. As a writer, Poe gained a great deal of his inspiration from his surroundings. His stay in the army contributed significantly to his repertoire, said to have inspired some of Poe’s greatest works including “’The Gold Bug;’ ’The Man Who Was Used Up,’ a satire of southern frontier politics; ‘The Balloon Hoax,’ set along the

When I was 11, my parents were battling in an ugly divorce. I wasn't seen as a kid because for a brief moment I became an adult that could make tough life changing decisions. As a child , I was confused on what was happening. I didn’t understand why my mom was gone one day, returned the next and then  just gone. I couldn't comprehend why police officers would regularly come to my broken home. The gruesome divorce and after period was an emotional roller coaster that never ended until today. It was difficult to adapt to the new lifestyle with a new single mom. I vividly remember having to sleep on the floor for months , having an empty naked white fridge and having to support my single mother every night as she dealt with depression. Although, life was hard I stayed strong, supported my sisters and accepted the new life I  was given.

Imagine coming home from middle school to your grandmother house on your mother’s side to find it unusually quiet and everyone with tears in their eyes. Imagine being told your father had a routine surgery but nothing was routine about the results. Imagine having thanksgiving dinner with your family and the phone rings then you hear a loud scream and feet running towards you to let you know your father has died. Imagine going to school the following weeks and hearing jokes that your dad died because “the turkey was dry”, “He choked on a chicken bone”, and “He wanted to leave your mom”. I did not have to imagine because it became my reality at the age of 13.

All of humanity suffers at one point or another during the course of their lives. It is in this suffering, this inevitable pain, that one truly experiences life. While suffering unites humankind, it is how we choose to cope with this pain that defines us as individuals. The question becomes do we let suffering consume us, or do we let it define our lives? Through James Baldwin’s story, “Sonny’s Blues”, the manner by which one confronts the light and darkness of suffering determines whether one is consumed by it, or embraces it in order to “survive.” Viewing a collection of these motifs, James Baldwin’s unique perspective on suffering as a crucial component of human development becomes apparent. It is through his compassionate portrayal of

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before”(Poe, The Raven).

As he did continuously in his writing, Poe has left us with yet another mystery: the cause of his death. This conundrum has tormented scholars for decades. Was it rabies, meningitis, or even a brain lesion? Edgar Allan Poe’s cause of death was never official. His physician listed it as “congestion of the brain” on his death certificate, yet there was no way of knowing, especially since there was no autopsy performed. Many scholars do not agree with the physician’s diagnosis. Oddly, most of these scholars believe that Poe died as a result of rabies. Many other theories have been suggested such as a heart condition, meningitis, and diabetes. Although most people who have theorized about Poe’s death believe

Edgar Allan Poe, was especially antisocial, and some would say insane. His “insanity” was solely prompted by events in his life. On December 8, 1811, both of Poe's parents died from the dreadful disease, tuberculosis. Poe's foster mother, with whom he was close with, dies in Richmond on February 28, 1829 from a long sickness. Upon the date Aug 1, 1831, Poes older brother Henry dies of either tuberculosis or cholera at the age of 27. Poe's wife Virginia died of tuberculosis on Jan 30, 1847 (Poe Museum). Poe has been so despondent while the illness consumed the final months of Virginia's life that friends thought he was going insane. The loss of his wife extended Poes dependency on alcohol. Some of Poe’s beliefs were viewed as ludicrous, but truly were coherent. Poe expresses these beliefs throughout his stories.These beliefs include, alcohol can end and destroy one's life, there's nothing to stop death, and that true happiness is not possible as long as moral evil lurks within the darkness.

Unexpectedly, my father called and with an unsteady voice explained, “I had to take your mother to the emergency room, and she is now being admitted to the hospital.” At age 13, this phone call began the most dreadful time of my life. Prior to this event, I was exceedingly dependent on my parents and even struggled with separating from them. In the beginning of my mother’s hospital stay, my familymy parents and two, younger sisters were constantly divided. My father stayed in the hospital with my mother, while my sisters and I would switch between caring family members and friends. Eventually I grew tired of different environments and decided that staying home alone was the far better option. As a result, I appreciate independence and know how to solely maintain a home.

Imagine growing up in a world for decades, only to find out that reality has all been a lie. The foundation of any individuals’ existence on the planet Earth has been for no specific purpose and it has become necessary to destroy the very fabric of the physical and spiritual realms in order to return to genuine tranquility. Edgar Allan Poe, a very popular American author, believes in a unique philosophy that advocates these principles mentioned called Destructive Transcendence. Destructive Transcendence is the belief that in order to return to original unity, the physical world and the spiritual world must both be destroyed. Poe used this concept in many of his writings and its evident the influence it had on his stories due to the

When I turned 11-years-old my whole childhood began to change my life went from being perfect to everything but perfect. One day I came home to hear the news my father, my best friend; my hero was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. Not knowing the struggle my family was about to take on I just began to cry. I had a million things running through my head what’s going to happen? Will everything be okay? Why him? What is going to happen? With all these things rushing through my head all I could do was cry not knowing this was least worse to come.

Nathaniel Hawthorne once said, “What other dungeon is so dark as one’s own heart! What jailer is so inexorable as one’s self!” According to writers like Hawthorne and Poe, humankind is the worst threat to itself. Hawthorne wrote of righteous, seemingly good people who are led onto the path of evil. Edgar Allan Poe wrote of almost normal people doing crazy insane things because their inner beast comes out.

Taking a gasp of oxygen not touched by the odor of human rot, Bird Man opened his beak and frantically hyperventilated. Soon after he felt lightheaded and ill from the overconsumption of air, he slowed down and recollected his thoughts. Before he had left Wilhelm, he had elicitly demanded that if Bird Man sighted or observed the woman who was tirelessly chasing him that he should not hesitate to use his powers in his defense. He also added in that if he saw another worm who looked similar to him, he should ignore it. Bird Man inquired about his latter comment, though Wilhelm simply dismissed him after threatening to destroy him if he disobeyed. Not that a worm really has the potential to do much more than eat and slam it’s face around.

My parents took custody of my sister’s children, which then began the chaotic day-to-day home life that usually left me in tears by bedtime. I was in middle school at the time, as a middle school aged girl I felt a whirlwind of emotions. I wanted to do things that other kids my age were doing but that wasn’t always possible. With very mentally handicap children in our home it wasn’t easy to just invite a friend over to come spend the night, not only would my mom say no but also I was far too embarrassed. I wanted to go out and eat in a restaurant like I heard my friends talking about, but no, going out to eat with my sister’s children would be very difficult because they couldn’t sit still or refrain from making loud noises in public places. I wanted my mom to take my friend and I to the movies rather than always going with a friend and their mom, but my mom was always tied down to caring for my sister’s

It was May 17th, 2011, it was a normal school day when my brother and I were told that my mom called to say that she was picking us up early. I was anxious, wondering why we were going home early and breaking our usual routine. When my mom came to get us, the first thing that I noticed was that she didn’t greet us with her usual smile. I was 9 years old, very observant, but not able to sense what was to come. We got into the car, when I asked my mom where we were going hoping