American Authors: Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allen Poe

The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” (Mark Twain). This quote from the famous American writer is the basis for what became one of the hardest ideas to comprehend, death. Death has always been a complex term, causing one to struggle with what the true definition is. It is also hard to wrap your mind around what does it truly mean to die. These are the questions we long for the answer. Whether we acknowledge it or not, death has always been feared by many. Death remains an impossible question, one that has been unexplained since beginning of time. Even though dying is a natural, we as a human race still fear it. What can be done to defeat this never-ending battle? According to Montaigne’s “To Philosophize is to Learn to Die” and Cory Taylor’s “Questions for Me About Dying” we can overcome this by living to the fullest, living with no regrets, living a legacy, and lastly not fearing the inevitable. If you want to conquer the question of life, live in the moment.

Death is an unknown place that people tend to avoid because of the fear that surrounds it. But, there should be fear or anxiety that has built up because being in a strange place will definitely add anxiety and fear to a person. Ron Scranton confirms this idea by saying. “learning how to die isn’t easy… I was terrified by the idea”. From the time when he was in the army, he had no choice but to face the idea of death. What seems to scare individuals the most is the thought and process

Death is the most inevitable and unknown aspect of life. It is unescapable, and by most of today’s population, it is feared in the utmost regard. Our materialistic views and constant desertion of religious ideals has forced our society to view death as an ultimate end. Socrates and St. Augustine’s views on death differ from many views on the subject in 2017, however, for their time, these men had the power to influence a plethora of individuals with their theories. For Socrates, death should never be feared and should be considered a blessing if our souls were to ascend to heaven, or death could be an extensive slumber without any dreaming whatsoever. With

In the Premature Burial written by Edgar Allan Poe, he explains the frightening fear and terror of being buried alive by using descriptive imagery to appeal to his audience which gives off an eerie feeling. Then later on, the narrator explains his experience with fear. The theme is not letting your fears define who you are. The entire story was based on overcoming your fears or learning to deal with your fears. It’s realizing the problem and driving yourself to fix them. In the story, the main theme is being able to overcome your fears if you face them and don’t let your fears consume you as a whole.

Poe is one of the early American poets of Romantic literature. In the poem Annabel Lee he uses idealism in Romance language to describe a relationship with a woman in first person. A description of the adult lovers as children most likely represent innocence or naïvety. The Romanticism comes in by comparing the couple to elements of nature. The love that the two share is free from societal norms or influence. The joy of just being together and sharing themselves with one another is so great that even angels were envious of them.

The story’s set in a now a days city, we can tell this by the use of cell phones and walking next to bridges “The walking path next to the highway passed under a bridge.” (Kleeman) “I was calling you over and over on the cell phone…”(Kleeman) The social environment at the time of end of the world wasn’t chaotic like what we see in movies. It started with people freaking out then after a few weeks settling down and accepting the fact that there was nothing we can do to stop it, you just have to make the time you have left worth it. This setting adds to the story by giving the reader an image that would be different then what they might have thought the end of the world would look like. The setting also adds to the conflict of the story. With the conflict being everything seems to be disappearing, literally the setting disappears as we read through out the story. The setting adds suspense to the story, keeping the reader on the edge of there seat wondering what was going to disappear next. The writer shows uses a great form of imagery to get the reader to understand the true emptiness of the setting this story is placed in “Sound carried further these days, tearing through the thin air like stone thrown as hard as you can toward the sea.”. The author puts the setting together perfectly to allow the reader to put themselves into the environment of the story. Which is so important because “the setting provides the framework for what is being discussed.”

Many people seem to fear death, but philosophers such as Socrates and Epicurus would argue that one has no reason to fear it. Socrates sees death as a blessing to be wished for if death is either nothingness or a relocation of the soul, whereas Epicurus argues that one shouldn't worry themselves about death since, once we are gone, death is annihilation which is neither good nor bad. Epicurus believes that death itself is a total lack of perception, wherein there is no pleasure or pain. I agree with Epicurus because Socrates doesn't give a sound argument for death as a blessing, whereas Epicurus' argument is cogent. I would also argue personally that death is not something to be feared because, like Epicurus, I see no sufficient evidence

In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the characters' imagination overcomes reasoning when they have anxiety. When the narrator first receives the

Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne were writers of the American gothic genre. They both used the elements of horror and mystery in their writing styles, writing about the dark side of humanity and the evil that lives within the human mind. Gothic writing focuses on the dark side of humanity and both Poe and Hawthorne captured this style well in their use of themes, symbols, and narration that focused on darkness and evil with their characters fighting various psychological issues. However, Poe’s stories are told in the first person narrative and he focuses on one human psychological effect, looking at man’s thoughts from within his mind and how his behavior then affects his surroundings. He also tends to build a sense on impending doom somewhat stronger than Hawthorne. Hawthorne, on the other hand uses the third person and focuses more on how man’s thoughts and behaviors are the results of what is happening around him. His stories also tend to be more of a romantic nature than Poe’s and he tends to create stories of conflicting interpretations to share lessons of life.

When people ponder death they wonder about the unknown with trepidation. As a young man, William Cullen Bryant wrote the "Thanatopsis." His thoughts progress from the fear of death to the acceptance of the event. People should not fear death because everyone dies and becomes a part of nature.

In both, Nathanial Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” and Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” the protagonists, Young Goodman Brown and the narrator experience a journey into the subconscious. Both stories have an overlap that blurs the boundaries of reality and fantasy. It is truly the supernatural aspects of these two stories that force the protagonists and the reader to delve into the realm of the subconscious and to scrutinize good versus evil and real versus imaginary.

Irving, Poe, and Hawthorne were arguably some of the most popular writers of the 19th century (Dincer 223; Lauter 2505). All three of them are known for their short essays and their advocacy to make writing a full-fledged and legitimate profession. Their writings show that they were hugely influenced by the Romantic Movement (romanticism); ‘a movement in art, literature, music, philosophy, politics and culture towards focusing on the individual, the subjective, and the spontaneous’ (Dincer 218). Romanticist writing “encouraged contemplation and self-awareness, direct contact with nature, and a focus on and an exploration of inner feelings” (Dincer 223). Yet, they had distinct writing style, focus, and theme. While Irving was more of a light romantic writer, a writing style characterized by optimism, Poe and Hawthorne are widely considered dark romantic Authors whose writings were characterized by pessimism that sees the world as full of dark, evil, suffering, horror, and mystery. While Irving’s writing focused more on satire and humor, Poe & Hawthorne’s writing was more about evil, crime, sin, and mystery. Moreover, Irving seem to be nostalgic aristocrat with huge ‘interest in the landscape, folklore, and the past’ (2506), whereas Poe and Hawthorne had a contrary view of the past (Liptak).

“The man wore motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-stripped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells.”

As the United States became a flourishing nation in the 1800’s, American entertainment such as poetry and short stories began to unfold by up-and-coming writers. Among these artists of text, Edgar Allan Poe is without a doubt an incredibly prominent figure when discussing American literature. A celebrity after his critically acclaimed poem, “The Raven,” he was one of the earliest American authors to craft and perfect the short story. Furthermore, Poe is credited to contribute much to the horror and science-fiction genres, as well as being the inventor of the detective-fiction genre, as his novel The Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1841, predates the most famous character of the genre, Sherlock Holmes, in 1887 (Genesis: 1841). Under a constant struggle to make ends meet, he was among the first American authors to make a living strictly off his pieces of literature, which was not exactly a successful money-making career path (Graves). Which made matters even worse, several of his closest family members, relatives, and relationships all fell to tuberculosis, the final of which he attempted to take care of by himself, even though he was essentially penniless up to his mysterious death in 1849 (Hossick). With great success, however, it is important to analyze how this legendary writer came to be.

Poe and Hawthorne are the most significant American writers of 19th century. They have their own way of relating to their audiences that’s varied and similar at the same time. Poe’s writing involves the reader emotionally. Hawthorne on the other hand considers author’s imagination important and paints a picture based on it. These innovative thoughts and experimentations in language have forever changed what we appreciate in writing. Poe and Hawthorne used various techniques in their writing including symbolism, allegory, suspense, characterization and great use of setting to make it very real to the reader. Both gothic writers set a different mood for the reader in their writings.