Poe's Place in the World
In human nature there exists a morbid desire to explore the darker realms of life. As sensitive creatures we make every effort to deny our curiosity in the matters that frighten us. Edgar Allan Poe was a master of his craft, gifted with the talent of introducing each reader to his or her own subconscious fears. Poe was the first writer in American literature who introduced horror, death and mystery into poetry. A look into Poe's childhood might shed some light on where his fascination with death came from. Edgar Allan Poe was born in 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts to drifting actor parents. His father abandoned his wife and three children, soon after Poe was born, leaving her to support the family as best as she could. The family traveled for a few years, looking for a comfortable place to settle down, until the end of 1811, when Poe's mother became ill and passed away. The children were sent off into foster homes and Poe was placed into a "residence of a well-off, yet unsupportive merchant named John Allan" (Johnson 1). John Allan was emotionally detached from Poe, refusing to legally adopt him. All these events that occurred when Poe was very young would trigger feelings that came out in his writing and his lifestyle
Poe was a master at describing detailed settings as if they were real and tangible. Even if Poe was an alcoholic, Poe gave America emotional poetry through the subjects of his stories. Thomas Dunn English, Poe already felt the illnesses of alcohol after two or three drinks. Even though Poe was condemned to be a drunk, he delivered America emotional and spiritual literary poetry. All his childhood insecurities came out in his stories as if he were reenacting them. Poe's religious views were unconventional, though they may seem considerably less today. During his early years as a writer, Poe developed an intolerance for alcohol and apparently never liked it at all. There, Poe was easily sidetracked as he would meet friends at a local bar and often not come home until the early hours. To his friend, Poe wrote, "My own faith is indeed my own" (Poe and Religion 2). His reputation as a drunk started when he was working on the Messenger in Richmond, Virginia. Poe was someone who liked to shock people, just to see what reaction he could get. Through his stories of terror and death, Poe created a unique style of literature that not only touched many Americans, but was also acknowledged by the French, thanks to the early and brilliant translations of Baudelaire. John Allan, although not as deeply religious as his wife, strongly believed in Christian virtues such as hard work and honesty, which served as a base for Poe's spiritual literature. Poe had a revolutionary train of thought, for in the nineteenth century Christianity played a dominant role in American society, and atheism 4was not an acceptable belief. Poe took his fascination with death beyond what many writers had done until then.
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