Edgar Allan Poe Preoccupation with Death

Poe's preoccupation with death and more specifically with death-in-life is seen in many of his short stories. The character of Roderick Usher in "The Fall of the House of Usher" is a man whose senses are so acute as to cause him physical pain -- a case of one who lives life is in an ultra mode that restricts his movements so much as to reduce rather than enhance life. His sister shows a different form of life-in-death, or death-in-life -- the two seem interchangeable in Poe's writings. She is subject to a malady whereby she appears to be dead but is not, and she is placed in her tomb prematurely. This theme was used by Poe elsewhere, as in the story "The Premature Burial" in which the protagonist fears being buried alive and ultimately is.

A different sort of life-in-death element is shown in "The Cask of Amontillado," a story that features a theme repeated in several Poe stories, that of being buried alive, this time with the victim walled up by his enemy and left to die. Living death behind a wall is seen as well in a different form in "The Black Cat," where the criminal is undone

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clock a sound which was clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical. . . . ("The Masque of the Red Death" 13). A similar combination of time and death is expressed in the poem "The Raven," where the poet emphasizes that the events described take place at midnight when the black bird appears. Critic Vincent Buranelli emphasizes the dual meaning of the poem. The surface meaning is the narrative, with the poet asking questions of the raven and hearing the repeated "Nevermore, " leading to the final question of whether he and his mistress will ever be reunited--"Nevermore." The second meaning, says Buranelli, has to be interpreted through the symbols of the poem and through suggestive signs which represent ideas hidden below the surface. The principal symbol is the raven, which with its jet black feathers and harsh croak has been accepted by common consent to represent fate. In his essay on composition, Poe indicates that the raven in his poem represents mournful and never-ending remembrance, meaning that the bereaved lover now has his sorrow brought home to him by this creature that stands for memory. The raven sits on the bust of Pallas, and Buranelli points out the symbolism of this in that Pallas was the Greek goddess
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