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Edgar Allan Poe Death Symbolism

Decent Essays

Many of Edgar Allan Poe’s writings are filled with symbols of death. The death of Poe’s wife is said to have influenced many of his works. He married his cousin Virginia and her death caused him to create many poems based on his mournings and loneliness (Zayed). Poe stated that "the death ... of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world" (Kennedy). Poe’s works contain latent meanings of death like beetles, the wind, and a raven which helped construct a dark, mysterious tone in his writings. The short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” conveys the downfall of a maniac who murdered an old man but tried to act innocent and sane as he told the story (Kennedy). The symbol of death in “The Tell-Tale Heart” is the death watches, a species of beetles, mentioned in the story. The narrator related to the old man by saying he stayed up at night “hearkening to the death-watches in the wall”, the death watches make clicking sounds that is sometimes thought to be predictive of death (Belasco 844). The narrator also compared himself to the minute hand on a watch which symbolizes the time until the old man’s death. Time is unavoidably passing, and every beat of one’s heart brings one closer to death (May). The narrator wanted to destroy the old man’s eye, but the reader can infer that he also meant “I”, as in himself. The only way to escape time is to destroy what time would destroy, one’s self (May). The narrator tried to save himself by giving the old man’s

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