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Isolation and Its Results in Poe's The Raven Essay

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Isolation and Its Results in Poe's The Raven

The noticeable characteristic of the speaker in "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe is his stand-offishness. He cuts himself off from the outside world, not because the world itself is terrible but because of his inward problems. This seclusion can bring ugly internal demons to the surface. The complications resulting from isolation can include sadness, fear, despair, anger, insanity, self-torture, and feelings of entrapment. Each of these can be seen in "The Raven," manifested in the speaker of the poem. The opening stanza of "The Raven" introduces the reader to an isolated man in his study on a "dreary" night reading old books and trying to stay awake. The silent solitude …show more content…

Solitude has made the speaker so uneasy that he is even "uncertain" about the "rustling of each purple curtain" (line 13). Anyone who has spent time alone in a house at night knows this feeling. His heart pounds as the curtains move, and now that some unknown force is knocking on the door he is even more terrified. He tries to calm himself down by repeating that it is only "some late visiter" at his door and "nothing more" (lines 17-18). The speaker has to gather all his courage just to investigate and greet his guest. When he greets nothing but a dark space beyond the door, his mind races to conjure frightening "dreams no mortal dared to dream before" (line 26). In his fright, he might have imagined it to have been a ghost, or someone with ill intent lurking in the shadows and waiting to catch him in surprise. According to Edgar Poe in "The Philosophy of Composition," the character even possessed "the half-fancy that it was the spirit of his dead mistress that knocked" (1677). This is seen as the speaker calls out the name of his beloved Lenore (lines 28-29). That is the only positive possibility considered, and others, such as a caring and concerned friend, are not considered at all. His isolation and depression have left him with nothing but negative feelings in every aspect. These feelings include paranoia - the feeling that something or someone is out to bring one harm, as seen in the thoughts swirling in the

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