Analysis Of The Raven And The Windigo

In Edgar Allan Poe’s haunting and well-known poem “The Raven,” the eponymous bird serves as a potent symbol, representing the main character's descent into madness as he grapples with pervasive, profound sorrow. Poe skillfully utilizes a variety of poetic devices, including symbolism, repetition, and rhythm, to delve into the psychological anguish of grief and the prevalent fear of death. Through these literary techniques, Poe prompts readers to ponder the fine line between sanity and insanity, and the eternal presence of sorrow in human existence. This paper will delve into the rich tapestry of literary elements employed by Poe in "The Raven," ranging from its evocative title and tone to its meticulously crafted structure and use of imagery,

The raven symbolizes the authors grief and helps him get through the stages of grief so that he can work on accepting his wife's death and realize that she is never coming back. The raven represents grief because whilst the speaker is talking to the raven he goes through the various stages of grief. Like for example in lines 58-60 it shows an example of one of the stages of grief, depression. In lines 81-84 he exhibits bargaining when he begs for all of his memories of his lost love Lenore to be expunged. In line 85 he shows that he is angry at the bird.

What makes people seek for experiences that make them feel scared? Fear is the expectation or the anticipation of possible harm, so why do people like it? There is a hormone called dopamine, that is released during scary and thrilling activities, according to David Zald, some individuals may get more of a kick of this hormone than others. Lots of people enjoy scary experiences, because of the feeling that they have after these situations. As reported by ABC News, in “Spooky Business American Economy”, people spend about 7 million dollars in Halloween, looking for costumes, decoration objects, and also in haunted houses. People enjoy scary movies, roller coasters, and haunted houses. Similarly, people enjoy thrilling literature, as Edgar Allan Poe and Louise Erdrich poems, “The Raven” and “The windigo” respectively. Both of these authors write and explore death and the ambiguity of what will happen after death, by using concrete examples of imagery and symbols, structured paragraphs, and a certain type of diction.

The Raven tells a story of a man with much grief over this loss of his love, Lenore. As the poem opens, the narrator is trying to find peace through his books. He states, “…while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,” (862). The setting, a chamber in a house, is described in such a way that creates a very dark, almost melancholy style. The narrator, while trying to find comfort for his loss, hears a tapping at his window. As he opens the window, a raven, a long time symbol of death, flies in, and refuses to leave. Poe uses the symbol of the raven, and his repeating word of “nevermore”, to show that the narrator will never get over the loss of his love, Lenore.

In Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven , he showed many different examples of symbols. The symbols in The Raven relate back to his own life. Some of the symbols found in The Raven are Lenore, “Bleak December”, and the chamber door.

Have you ever wondered why you enjoy being scared? In Allegra Ringo’s interview, “Why do some brains enjoy fear?”, with Dr. Kerr, a scare specialist, he states that many enjoy being scared because the brain triggers “a flood” of adrenaline, dopamine, and endorphins. To enjoy the feeling of being terrified, our brains have to process that we are in a safe space. Scary movies, stories, roller coasters, and haunted houses all create a breathtaking response to fear. These experiences we have with fear are said to create self-confidence, relieve stress, and even bring us together. Americans spend over 7.5 billion dollars on Halloween activities and costumes. Dr. Kerr states in the interview, that people love Halloween so much because it constructs a strong emotional response and build stronger memories. Dr. Kerr also says that when we are happy, or afraid we release hormones that help those moments “stick” in our brain. We all love a good scare! “The Raven”, by Edgar Allen Poe, and “Beware: do not read this poem”, by Ishmael Reed both analyze the allure of fear through symbolism and descriptive imagery, which is a part of gothic literature. Both Poe and Reed signifies their themes differently but both themes allude to the fascination of fear.

The allure of fear is interesting for some people for several reasons. These people have another perspective of how they react when they see something scary or read it. They don’t react the same way as other people that don’t like scary things. Other people like to be scared. Some people motivate others by saying to them they are not so scary and everything that is happening there is not real, since they use fiction elements, like characters, details and scenarios. These scary elements have real details but also have scenarios that are not real, this means it is magical realism. This thought of liking scary things is a physiological problem. Scientist make an article showing proof that there is a big pole of people that like scary scenarios.

The Raven was a poem about a man that was extremely depressed after the death of a woman named Lenore. There were many examples of symbolism in the Poem such as the raven representing death, depression, and despair. It is believed that Lenore either represented his mother or his lost wife Virginia. As well as symbolism for death, there is also other symbolism such as the bust of Pallas. Pallas is the goddess of wisdom.

In Poe's "The Raven", he uses symbolism to really create the mood of the story. "This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining, On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamplight gloated o'er." (Raven 13). The lamplight represents happiness and joy, and the Raven acts as his memories of Lenore. The narrator cannot be happy because the raven is blocking the light from him, so the memories of Lenore are in the way of his

"The Raven" is one of the most famous compositions of Edgar Allan Poe published in 1845, and for me is certainly an exceptional poem. Each time I read it is impossible for me not to think about the meaning of the raven as the protagonist and the connection the image has with society for many years. In some cultures, the raven is a symbol of eternal life, whereas in other places, like in my country (Colombia), the raven is an image of myths and dead. Likewise, the choice of a raven as the protagonist of this poem is suitable for a number of reasons(as he himself explains) Indeed, not many animals are capable of carrying out human-like sounds and at the time it was wrote this black furred animal was conceived as a bad sign.

The Raven was a very confusing poem to read. I had to really decipher each line to completely understand what it was about. I still don’t fully understand the poem but I have a good idea about what the message of the story is. The poem takes place on a dark night in December. The main character is an unnamed man who is sitting in his home.

Symbols are present in every aspect of society today. People use them in language, art and even love. Symbols within stories of the past are some of the most complicated to interpret because of the complexity in which they are made. Poetic symbols are even more difficult, because the writing is harder to understand than an actual story. Poetic symbols can have quite a bit of meaning as well. As Robin Skelton says, “The way in which images are presented to the mind of the poet, and their different kinds and functions, are important matters which we must examine in some detail.” (Skelton). In both stories, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe, the symbolic message takes the form of a bird. A comparison of the symbolic meaning of the individual birds is needed to further understand what message the author intended to display within each story.

Many authors often use symbolism to express a deeper meaning. They use the symbols to connect an unrelated thought or feeling into their literary work they are writing. Edgar Allan Poe frequently uses this literary device in his works. Symbols are many times seen in his poems and in his short stories. Many symbols are evident in Poe’s works “The Raven,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Black Cat.” Because Poe’s works are typically dark, his use of symbols is in a dark way. Although there are many types of symbols manifested in these stories, Poe’s works generally include a symbol that eludes death or the end of something and many include references of sight and vision.

The poem, “The Raven,” written by Edgar Allen Poe shows the deep depression and confusion that the narrator is experiencing since the death of his beloved wife. The gloomy setting of the poem predicts the visit of the Raven, whom is a sign of misfortune, darkness, and death. Throughout the poem, the narrator is continually mourning his wife, Lenore. He secretly hopes that the Raven will bring good news regarding his wife and his future; however, the Raven informs him that he will forever remain depressed. Furthermore, Poe uses setting, strong word choice, and symbolism to illustrate the Raven as the messenger of darkness and explain the narrator’s emotional state.

Therefore , Symbolism is used in the poem to symbolize the raven. As the raven is tapping at the speaker’s chamber door and the raven has entered, it then holds power over the speaker. The raven's darkness may symbolize death; the line “Here I opened wide the door, Darkness there and nothing more.” the darkness brought from the raven is than just a constant reminder of death for his lost love,