Edgar Allan Poe Short Stories Review

Edgar Allan Poe Short Stories Review

Frankly, I prefer Poe's shorter work. Then again, I rarely had patience for longer writing. Poe wrote during a dark time in US history. Tuberculosis aka Consumption was running rampant. Part of Poe's insanity lies in the workings of his mother. Everyday, she used to do the part of Juliet. Thus, little Poe, who had front row seats, kept seeing his mother dying over and over again. That kinda messes with head. To make matters worse, his mother also got Consumption. The process of the disease was terrible for the Lady. However, when the shadow of death crept over her, it returned all of the beauty she had in life. Don't ask me... That is what Poe said about this event.

The other source of darkness was his little cousin. He kinda married the girl Virginia, a bit early. She also died of this disease.  Originally, Annabel Lee was titled Virginia. He had written this poem about his dead wife. However, the editor said that the title was a bit misleading. After all, Virginia is the name of a state. As for the Raven poem, the inspiration came from Charles Dickens. It was a funny story, Poe was talking with Dickens. Dickens was being a dick, which was an unusual behavior for him. Poe asked him what was the matter. Dickens was mourning about his dead pet raven.

Whenever Dickens used to travel abroad , he would leave food for his pet raven. On his last trip, he forgot to close a can of paint. His raven confused it with the water. Needless to say, he returned home to a dead pet raven. Why Dickens had a pet raven is an interesting story in it of itself. You forget that Dickens childhood was not so pleasant. It makes sense that the former poor orphan boy, might have a taste for odd pets. While he was telling his tale, Dickens kept saying "Nevermore will I hear your crows, Mr. Raven!!" . You can guess now, the origin of the Raven Nevermore. Hehehehehe...

You may wonder why I included the Raven and Annabel Lee among the short stories. It is true that these are poems. However, they have narration elements identical to Poe's short stories. As for me, the stories that I like best are "The Pit and the Pendulum" and "The Mask of the Red Death". Both stories are about wrestling with death. The first one is about the Inquisition. The main character had to survive long enough for help to arrive. The first torture was the pit. He was wise about keeping his bearing. I do so love the description of the darkness. It makes you feel like you are in the pits.

The last torture was the Pendulum. You seen those weird trap saws that go left and right. This one kept going lower and lower mimicking the movements of a clock Pendulum. At a certain time, it would slice the main character to ribbons. The man escaped the Pendulum by freeing his bind using the rats. He placed his food near his binds, the rats ate at both the food and the ropes. When he freed himself, the Inquisition went to slay him themselves. However, help finally came.

This short story shows man's drive to escape death. As for "The Mask of the Red Death", this short story shows that you cannot escape from Death. In this ball, Red Death came for his men in person. Poe wrote this during the time his wife was suffering from Tuberculosis. It seems he felt the futility of his attempt to save Virginia. It shows his humbleness for death. He used to keep her away from Consumption. However, all his cares did not save her from the disease. Kinda depressing if you think about it. 

Another way to look at this story is the equality of status in death. The rich guys escaped death by isolating themselves in an abbey. They had enough money and supplies to stave off the plague, in luxury. Thus, death went to get the rich guys. This proves that you cannot use your money to escape death. Anyhow, this last short story is the most popular of his short stories. It is just that freaky. Then again, Red Death certainly knows how to crash a party.

As for Poe, his death was most stupid. It was campaign time and the Republicans needed a few more votes. They got him drunk and had him vote republican. It seems that in those days, you had to be drunk to vote republican. Hehehehehe, not too different from today. The problem was that they got Poe too drunk. He died of its Toxicity in the random hospital they dropped him off. It was truly a most unsightly way to die... I guess we cannot all have a grand exist. In any case, all of Poe's works deserves 5 star rating.