The Style and Themes of Edgar Allan Poe’s Literature

Many writing styles and techniques are applied in Literature courses for students to learn. One style that is rarely valued in the English Curriculum in the writing style of Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who lived from January 19, 1809 - October 07, 1849. Poe is best known for the different elements that are found in his writing, including Gothic fiction. English Curriculums should introduce Edgar Allan Poe’s considering Poe brings numerous key factors into the literature writing. Poe delivers components such as creating the first detective story, Gothic writing and being an analyst of psychology.

Countless detective stories have been written by famous writers, but none compare to the story that Poe created. Poe invented the first detective story when he wrote “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”. Poe devised a template for the following detective fictions to come. Years later Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was to say that Poe “was a model for all time”. Poe paved the way for detective stories from Sherlock Holmes to American culture through novels and later movies. Edgar Allan Poe introduced elements such as deduction reasoning and Tales of Ratiocination. Poe starts out the story with deduction reasoning and analyzing how the human brain works. In the story, he begins by saying, “The necessary knowledge is that of what to observe. Our player confines himself not at all; nor, because the game is the object, does he reject deductions from things external to the game. He examines the countenance of his partner, comparing it carefully with that of each of his opponent.” Poe took the process of using clues to figure who the murder and criminal was. While doing this Edgar Allan Poe created The Tales of Ratiocination. Ratiocination is a detective story and tale“ that features a mystery and/or the commission of a crime, emphasizing the search for a solution.” In Poe’s story, it is not only Dupin who is trying to solve the crime but also the reader. The reader and Dupin have to acknowledge every detail no matter how small it may be. The audience is to uses their knowledge of human nature to solve the mystery. This brings the students to think and evaluate the stories in more in/ depth than just simple reading. The Protagonist and reader are both put onto a challenge.

No other author and writer have horror-struck their audience more than Poe. Much of Poe’s work was influenced by all the event that happened around his lifetime which was filled in with fear, sadness, heartbroken, and tragedy. Poe was an amazing author who learned from others in the Romantic Period but having a displeasing life lead him to write dark. Edgar Allan Poe works were generally Gothic and dealt with themes like the effects of decomposition, concerns of premature burial, the revival of the dead, and mourning. Gothic literature is defined as “writing that employs dark and picturesque scenery, startling and melodramatic narrative devices, and an overall atmosphere of exoticism, mystery, fear, and dread”. Poe is often associated with Gothic stories such as “The Cask Amontillado”, “The Masque of the Red Death”, and “ The Fall of the House of Usher”. When reading a story the reader can identify various gothic elements. “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a story about incest, sickness, and madness that takes place in a gloomy, lonely, old house. From the start of the story, the Roderick Usher misery is introduced. The narrator also notices the sad, and depressing vibe that the house gives off. In the story, the narrator stated, “I look upon the scene before me - upon the mere house and the simple landscape features of the domain - upon the bleak walls- upon the vacant eye-like windows- upon a few rank sedges - upon a few white trunks of decayed trees - with an utter depression of soul which I can to no earthly more properly than the after-dream of the reveller upon opium- the bitter lapse into everyday life - the hideous dropping off of the veil.” At the end of the story, the sister of Roderick revives causing him to die on the spot. More elements of Gothic can be found in Poe’s writing such as in his poem “The Raven”. The elements that are found in “The Raven” are romance, death, madness and a dark night. The narrator is reading a book on a rainy, dark night but can’t seem to concentrate. While thinking about his dead wife, the narrator hears noises and looks around the house to see where it is coming from. A raven comes in the house and keeps saying nevermore, which drives the narrator crazy. Poe’s writing teaches the students to learn further about Gothic literature and its elements.

Despite his amazing work, Edgar Allan Poe is able to put psychology together with the horror genre. Poe remodels the genre of horror with his “psychological depth and insight”. Poe used Gothic to try to understand and explore mental dysfunctions (mental illness) which he believed explained truth about humanity. Poe noted this when he wrote “The Tell-Tale Heart”. The narrator kept denying that he was mad for the crime that he had done. In the book, it says “TRUE!-NERVOUS-VERY, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses- not destroyed- not dulled them.” The narrator is clearly mad and can’t think right. At the end of the story, he can’t hold the guilt anymore that tells the officers the truth.

In conclusion, Edgar Allan Poe should be taught in the English Curriculum. Poe’s work helps students sharpen their skills by evaluating cases, the scholars learn more about Gothic literature and understand the impact that Poe’s writing had on literature, and comprehend the psychology in a different manner. Poe definitely changed the course of writing even though it is not appreciated as it should be. His impact in literature is just as profound on American culture. More than 160 years after his death and people continue to read Poe’s poem and stories.