The Theme of Death in Edgar Allan Poe’s Poems

The pickpocket of the House of depict is presented by dint of the narrators lens as he helps out a help whose whole heart has been permeated with demolition. Lastly, The Cask of Amontillado is a subject of demise with a motive. The engageing genius commits the execution of instrument of a prideful creation who is hooked to the pleasure of drinking wine. The strickle of the House of register is a recital that revolves near the terror and remnant of some(prenominal) red-brick and his sister, Madeline door guard.As Redbrick bear witness becomes ment onlyy unstable and falls into a accede of depression, he sends a letter to his gigantic lost friend, asking him to come for a stay. The mood of the humbug is full of unmitigated gloom as Redbrick ostiary undergoes a struggle amidst the de patch to live and the leave behind to die. Usher has no will to live and tells the narrator/his friend l shall fit, I must(prenominal) perish in this deplorable folly (Poe 5). This suggests his statistical regression on the abhorrence of expiry, as Usher awes non death, Itself-importance, or the end of life, more all over rather death while until now oppressed by his phantasmagoria fears (Goodwin 174). Sheer . Dreads the events of the future, non in themselves, but in their results he continues to say, l feel that he closure will arrive when I must abandon life and reason in concert in some struggle with the coloured phantasm, FEAR (Poe 5). Usher is overwhelmed by the despondency and darkness of death he is convinced(p) of the inevitability of his fast approaching death. He has such(prenominal) a diseased attitude, as things that would normally bring others happiness do not please him.The narrator, says early on that ushers mental condition displayed Itself In a host of unnatural sensations he thus goes on to add that he suffered much(prenominal) from a morbid acuteness of the senses the or so insipid food was lone sufferable he c ould wear only garments of current texture the doors of all flowers were oppressive his eye were tortured by even a faint light and there were but peculiar sounds, and these from stringed instruments, which did not inspire him with horror (Poe 3).Because Usher is surrounded by a characteristically gothic environment, Isolated and depressing, this contributes to his trance and obsession with death. Throughout the story, ushers friend tries to assert his distance from this dread and misery, but he cannot seem to break away since he is staying in the dull and gloomy house. Gradually, Ushers disruptive mental condition worsens and he becomes so hysterical that he is not accurately perceiving his surroundings. He seems almost ghost- alike because he is upstage so much from life and domain he Is unstable and his mind Is garble by his morbid attitudes and disposition.Redbrick Usher shows contributors a portrait of a humankind whose morbid fascinations ultimately prompt dangerous and suicidal actions. As Ushers sister decays, he realizes he will be the last Usher. maculation many might despair in facing this reality, Usher takes pride in being the last of his family and glossaries his death. Usher says that her return would leave him the last of the ancient cannonball along of the Ushers- which explains the worsening of his mental condition because he will have no family leftover and will feel more lone(a) and isolated (Poe 5).Because Usher tends to exacerbate things that be not as bad as they ar, he becomes so wrapped up in death that he responds to a death that has not happened yet. The fact that Usher entombs his own sister alive and is not immediately aware of it, confirms his obsession with the gloom of death. Usher is either preparing for, worrying about, or turn excited with death- his orbit fascinations are so disturbing. (Walker 586). Redbricks friend attempts to try to take up unnecessary himself from the doom of Usher, but finds it hard t o not become trapped in this terror. The bring back of the House of Usher concerns the total putrefaction of Redbrick Usher as he willingly enters into a gloomy serviceman by remaining in such a miserable environment. Usher experiences a mental disorder that oppresses him, leaves him deranged, and causes his frequent moods of ghastly hilarity (Walker 590). Redbrick is not killed by his sister, but is literally terrified to death by his environment and his distorted imagination. He is beyond saving, as the narrator chop-chop discovers.He collapses into the melancholy which ultimately causes his destruction. William Wilson is a challenging read. In this work Poe confronts death, but not in the literal sense, as in some of his other works. William Wilson is a story where a self-willed, intelligent, and bold man comes crossways another man who seems to embody the arrogate form of himself. Through this short story, the reference questions whether the other William Wilson is only a scruples and does not tangibly exist, or whether he is a real human that knows withal much.William Willows follower has a disposition unlike to Wilson- he is quiet, has no flaws, and only communicates by and through whispers, and unlike the other boys at the naturalize he is not charmed by William Willows intelligence and wealth. Although Wilson is scared of and threatened by his follower (because of his omnipresence and unlimited knowledge), he is also awed and fascinated by him. Death in William Wilson is not inevitably literal rather, it takes place throughout the faultless story.Willows doppelgnger is constantly nerve-wracking to kill the typeface of William Wilson that has no concern for anyone else- the boastful and elfish side. William Wilson is, in a way, violent death false his own goodness by refusing to hark to the information of his doppelgnger by the end of the story, Wilson is beyond salvation and has become dead to others around him. Many readers and c ritics question the true universe of discourse of the doppelgnger collectable to the fact that his mockery and satiric comments are only do in private through whispers. William Wilson is disgusted by these comments because he does not want his temper to be tarnished.Willows doppelgnger seems to be satisfied with the pose he inflicts, but William Wilson is hurting on the inside while trying not to question his own actions. He despises his doppelgnger because he knows he is doing something wrong but does not want to acknowledge it- he wants to confess that everything he does is right and true. William Willows doppelgnger, through his insights, bit by bit makes him tells Wilson, his avowed antagonist, And in my death, see by this image, which is thing own, how utterly thou hast slay thyself (Poe 10).Here, Willows doppelgnger tells Wilson that he has left the better break down of himself and that, essentially, he is now dead also. Willows doppelgnger is precept that if Wilso n had listened to him, he might have been a better soulfulness. All along Wilson has been both(prenominal) threatened and fascinated by this doppelgnger because his wisdom is far keener and better than his own. His doppelgnger kills Willows name, schemes, and pride- he has made Wilson feel horrible because he is the first base mortal to really expose his solid character flaws.In one of the last scenerys, where Wilson is sport with a very rich man and swindles him, his reputation is destroyed and his deceiving tricks are revealed. This scene is where Willows doppelgnger finally takes action instead of merely whispering. He makes it known that William is a cheat. The doppelgngers painting of Willows trickery is the pinnacle of what he has been trying to do all along. Willows doppelgnger represents the happier and better part of William Wilson, and in the end out of fear and paranoia, Wilson kills off this side of himself, or his conscience.William Wilson, like all people, ha s to constantly choose between right and wrong. Even with the lingering shade of his doppelgnger urging him to do right, Wilson manages to triumph over the forces of good acting on him. When Wilson kills his doppelgnger, he dooms himself to a life of turpitude (Sullivan 254). The theme of death in The Cask of Amontillado, by contrast, is literal. The story is a confession of a man, Mentors, who has committed the horrible crime of murder. Mentors lures his friend, favourable, into his family vaults, where he then fetters him to the wall and bricks him in.In this short story, the reader is perplexed by the seeming absence seizure of a motive for this crime. It seems obvious that Mentors is insane, and his reasons for cleanup position better off(predicate) are questionable. Mentors elaborates on his ripe philosophy of revenge l must not only penalise, but punish with impunity. A wrong is undressed when payback overtakes its redresser. It is equally unrepressed when the avenger f ails to make himself felt as such to him who has through with(p) the wrong (Poe 1).While many would suspect Mentors feels punishable about his killing afterwards he says my heart grew sick, he is actually stating his satisfaction over his monstrous work . On account of the dampness of the catacombs (Poe 7). Mentors is in full capable of going through with all this violence and neither have a bun in the ovening nor experiencing any remorse. non only does Mentors feel no iniquity about his murder, but he perceives his murder of Fortunate as a made and Justified act of vengeance and punishment rather than a crime (Barbara 49).The death in The Cask of Amontillado is clearly murder, as Mentors expertly plans his devious actions of capturing Fortunate and killing him in his family vaults. Mentors presents himself as a person with the right to condemn Fortunate to death- he plans his murder as an act of retribution. Although Mentors claims Fortunate death is want from revenge, t he vexs Fortunate causes are never revealed to the audience. Clearly, Mentors actions are irrational, extreme, and therefore he is mad.He is an extremely violent and insane person who is looking forward to the murder of his friend. Mentors is not an active participant in the life of local aristocracy- he seemed to be a recluse. The fact that was more powerful than Mentors (Poe 1). Fortunate death had to come from feelings of Jealously and inferiority. only when Mentors felt, being a descendant of a powerful aristocratic family, he could not possibly let Fortunate insult him with impunity (Barbara 52). The murder of Fortunate is looked forward to and is heedful and calculated, as Mentors wants to kill him.He is able to easily face the toll, of committing the gruesome act that comes upon him. The death in The Cask of Amontillado is eagerly sought as Fortunate murder is deliberate and arranged and is later felt with no pity. The fact that Mentors feels no remorse after the death proves that he is an insane man and was fully capable of pursuing his plan. From losing his parents becoming orphaned and adopted and going through periods of fife where he struggled to both find and hatful with losing love, it is obvious that Edgar Allan Poe experienced much suffering.Death was a common reality for him. Popes three works, William Wilson, The Fall of the House of Usher, and The Cask of Amontillado all express different aspects of death. The tale of Redbrick Usher is one of dramatic intensity, psychological subtlety, and symbolical complexity (Kennedy 42). The deaths in the story are due to unrelieved gloom and morbid attitudes. In William Wilson, death is a mystery, as readers will never know whether William Wilson kills is actual self or a grim conscience who forces Wilson to question his immoral actions.Lastly, death in The Cask of Amontillado is a plotted manslaughter where the receiver is violent and vengeful. Although the treatments of death are different amo ng these short stories, they all share characters, including Redbrick Usher, William Wilson, and Mentors, that are mentally unstable. These three stories dish out with mental instability, self-destruction, and murder which all lead to death, inevitably. In conclusion, we can stem these forms of death from Edgar Allan Popes life and experiences, as he lived through much loss.