Life of Edgar Allen Poe

The life of a man in which his life was corrupted with evil and malevolent thoughts. For his life wasn’t the same as any other typical childhood. His name was Edgar Allen Poe. Edgar Allen Poe was born on January 19, 1809. Living in Boston, Massachusetts, his parents Eliza Poe and David Poe Jr. were both professional actors in their time. His mother Eliza Poe, was a very well known actress within her community as she was seen as a celebrity herself.

The family was poor. By 1811, his father had abandoned the family, leaving Eliza Poe alone with two year old Edgar, his older brother Henry, and his little sister Rosalie. With his mother being the only figure in the house, she had died of tuberculosis and very shortly their father who had abandoned them died of the same disease. With the death of their parents, the three Poe children were split. Henry went off to live with his grandparents. Rosalie was adopted by the Mackenzie family of Richmond. And Edgar was taken in by the family of John and Frances Allan, a couple unable to have children of their own. He later added his foster family’s name to his own, becoming Edgar Allan Poe.

As Edgar Allen Poe grew up his life had become better. He was surrounded by a loving and caring family that indeed took care about his well being. Through the years Edgar would grow up into the man we know today. He was first enrolled into a college which he was successful with his studies but they couldn’t afford the debt as they were over $2,000 in debt. In those times $2,000 was severely bad especially for a poor family like themselves.

Growing up Edgar never had the satisfaction of knowing what truly can come from the good in life as he wasn’t one to experience it. As Poe was attending the University of Virginia, they removed Poe as his foster father could not pay for his college due to gambling debt as well. You can tell from this experience that his foster father had a gambling issue as well which adds onto the saddened fact that his father doesn’t care about Poe as he had really expected him to.

In 1827, he had moved back to Boston and enlisted in the United States Army to fight for his country. Once leaving the Army he was accepted into the U.S Military Academy but he was removed from the academy once the finances became an issue again. The reoccurring issue with finances in his life shows how his family really had always stayed stable through the little money they had. The Allan family didn’t have money to use on Poe and his education as priorities had come before his own education. Once his education wasn’t working out for him, in 1835, he became the editor of the southern literary messenger in Richmond where he lived with his aunt and cousin, Maria and Virginia Clemm. Which in a few years he actually marries his cousin Virginia Clemm which was 13 at the time.

When Virginia was 24 years old she had passed away from tuberculosis. This disease has impacted Poe so much as almost his whole family has passed away from this sickness which is bizarre due to the fact that it’s the same age and type of disease for everyone involved. Poe was overcome with grief especially with his wife’s death as he began to crash. He will now be struggling financially and with his poor health for the rest of his life.

As Edgar Allan Poe continued his life he was met finally with death himself. It was on October 7th, 1849 where we had passed away in a hospital. Edgar Allan Poe was originally found in an ally way distraught but his death is found as a mystery on what caused his death. His final words were I would say a summary of what he went through his whole life. His last words were, “Lord, Help my poor soul”. With all that occurred in his life I believe this was his way of summing up his life and how he felt for years now.

During Edgar Allen Poe’s life, he created amazing stories and short stories that impact our world today. His work is studied all over the world as the impact he has put into lives is inspiring. With his hard and dreadful life, he was able to convert it all into poems and novels where he expressed the outcome he experienced when it came to his difficulties. Every story he has written has a powerful message folded within his texts.

One main story I find to be the most successful was “The cask of Amontillado”. “The Cask of Amontillado” was first published in the November 1846. It was set in an unnamed Italian city at carnival time in an unspecified year and it is about a man taking fatal revenge on a friend who, he believes, has insulted him.

In the beginning in the story it allows the audience to engage on how Fortunato is seeking his revenge. I believe this story plays a connection with Edgar Allen Poe’s life because it shows the revenge that Poe has been wanting his whole life as everything has been taken away from him one way or another. For example, the disease tuberculosis took away almost half of his family and the loss of money took away his chances of education at a university or academy just like how he was accepted into the University of Virginia but soon removed. Within the text it allows you to see the methods that Fortunato uses to attract Amontillado into his trap.

Fortunato used Amontillado’s disadvantage was intoxication to his own use and lured him to his trap using alcohol and persuasion. When someone is under the influence of alcohol they are easily tricked or convinced as their mind is not thinking straight. Out of all the texts I have read of Edgar Allen Poe this text is truly the message that comes across the clearest. From the small details of how Amontillado begins to scream for help, Fortunato begins to scream as well to send a message to Amontillado that no one can hear you in the tombs calling and yelling for help and mercy. This is a way to show Amontillado that there is no more begging for mercy as the harm has been done.

The way this trap was set up puts a perspective on what we need to think about Edgar Allen Poe himself as he is the creative mind behind these books. From the smallest of crimes to the biggest master mines in the text he is also able to hide it within very mature and impressive writing as the normal eye can not catch his direct message. I have always been one to connect his writings to Shakespeare in the sense of writing and the translation of his writing. The writing Poe portrays is very complex and hidden within anything that I have seen other then the writings of Shakespeare which I can easily see a connection with. When Edgar Allan Poe wrote this story the very popular topic of the time was revenge and prosperity for all that has been done. Edgar Allan Poe was a huge fan with revenge as his whole life he has wanted a little part of revenge to justify his whole past life. The life of Edgar Allan Poe can be told through many different ways and in each of his stories he has written they can be mirrored into his actual life. From his top novel “The Raven” all through this novel “The Cask of Amontillado”, He connects his own life which is a very successful and inspiring activity to do as an author. Poe also connected his stories to real life actions in which he aspired to influence his community with an impact of how we should take todays tasks. As controversial Poe can be he brings out and sets a new path for writing and creators everywhere. With horrifying texts, comical texts, romantic texts, and Informal texts, this man created it all with only one mind which was his own.

Today, history looks at Edgar Allan Poe as a role model for future writings that our generations will read and analyze. From reading one book of Poe you can get the insight view of his life and what he had gone through in the times he was alive. From all the deaths in his family to all the interesting facts that occurred in his life it was all laid out in the things he loved. Being an author didn’t give him riches and it only gave him a bit of fame but it was the drive and inspiration that gave him the motives to keep writing and to keep living his life no matter how horrible and secluded it was in his times of need. From the ups and downs of his life I can relate to one of his most famous quote which is, “The ninety and nine are with dreams, content but the hope of the world made new, is the hundredth man who is grimly bent on making those dreams come true” (Edgar Allan Poe).

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