Edgar Allan Poe and The Gold Bug - Research Paper Example

Edgar Allan Poe and The Gold Bug Edgar Allan Poe, born in Boston in the year 1809, lived for only 40 years. But during those years, he earned a distinct reputation of being a multitalented writer. His oeuvre does not only include short stories, a novel, books on scientific theories, numerous essays, and book critics but also a distinct theme attached to each one of these kinds of literature. One of his successful endeavours is his initiation of scientific fiction based on cryptography and related theories. Brought up in Richmond by his mother alone until 1811 when she died from tuberculosis, the orphaned Edgar and his siblings were abandoned. However, Edgar was then taken under the guardianship of a wealthy tobacco merchant, John Allan, and his wife, Frances Valentine Allan, whereas his siblings were taken in by other families. Allan taught Edgar to become a businessman and follow in his footsteps, but Edgar from his adolescence wanted to become a writer. Rather than learning about merchandising business, he would hero-worship a British poet, Lord Byron, and quote his poetry in Allan’s ledger (“Poe’s Life”). His obsession with writing and poetry eventually made him accomplish his goal. By 1826, Edgar Allan Poe was sent to University of Virginia, where he showed exceptional skills in his academics. During this time, John Allan’s miserly attitude towards supporting Poe’s education made Poe suffer from impoverishment. As he was unable to afford his expenses, he took on loans and was indebted to people. His desperation and humiliation made him return back to Richmond, where he again suffered humiliation when he witnessed his fiancée engaged to someone else. The pent up emotions and hostility towards John Allan and everyone else made him realise the fact that he had to become self-reliant in order to survive. His ubiquitous love for writing was his means of self-expression. He vowed to accomplish his quixotic quest to become a poet. After being disowned by Allan and his expulsion from West Point Military Academy, he made his name at the age of 24 as a literary critic and a poet (Asiado). His first success was because of his short story “Manuscript Found in a Bottle”, which won a cash prize. With his life changing and taking a different turn, Poe’s behaviour changed too. In order to escape isolation and depression, he started relying on alcohol. Too much reliance ultimately resulted in addiction. This combined with his notorious drug abuse and experiences with his dysfunctional, unsupportive family played a large role in developing Poe’s versatile and distinct writing styles and topics. It is because of this it is also assumed that his work is a reflection of his true inner self. His experiences consumed his thoughts and deprived him of the true satisfaction he was aiming for. It is evident that most of his work is a depiction of his melancholic life and most of the characters, especially the protagonists in his stories, displayed such morbid behaviour. Moreover, his writing style also has similar sinister patters which indicate perversity, death, and self-destruction either felt by the narrator or Poe himself. Self destruction was generally seen in most of his works. For example, in the “The Tell-Tale Heart”, the narrator wants people to believe in his sanity rather than his innocence. Even though murdering the old man was the actual motive seen in the story, he felt remorse and it “haunted me day and night” (Poe). Similarly, the anonymous narrators in most of the stories were involved in the horror and murder of people. With vivid imagination and more of the unsubtle description, this menacing idea was brought forward followed by the concept of death in many stories. In “Black Cat”, for example, the main character underwent perversion, which shows how a human mind can think perversely and irrationally. Many of Poe’s work discuss such details intensely. The point to be noticed here is that Poe not only described such details in a brilliant description but also the depictions in certain cases seemed actually very real. Being orphaned, cheated by his fiancé, and deluded by John Allan played havoc with his mindset. Not only these circumstances hit him badly but also they left behind a lasting impact. Where his work delivers fear and horror with clarity, authenticity, and realism from his very life, it becomes obvious how he perceived his life and thought irrationality during depression (Kelley 2010). With all the aforementioned work he delivered, the different one amongst them all was the “The Gold Bug.” It was published in the “The Dollar Newspaper” in Philadelphia in June 1843 and won a cash prize of $100 (Patterson). Poe, like all the other literary figures of his time, had deep interest in cryptography. His interest went deep, and this is how “The Gold Bug” captivated many readers. Various themes are seen in the “The Gold Bug”. The story revolves around the William Legrand’s expedition in search of the treasure, which was triggered after he had been bit by a gold bug. And once again the story has elements of insanity as normally seen in most of Edgar’s works. The narrator of the story is a friend of Legrand’s who is summoned by him in order to embark on a treasure hunt along with Legrand’s African-American servant, Jupiter. The decryption of the location of the treasure is the climax of the story. Even though he is seen as a victim of insanity, the narrator describes Legrand’s resiliency and fluctuating mood swings between euphoria and melancholy as strong motivation. But the narrator worries that “continued pressure of misfortune had, at length held fairly unsettled the reason of my friend” (Poe). However, the smart intellect shown by Legrand is applauding. He solves the cryptogram and finds the answers to the obscure and vague clues to decipher the treasure. The power of reasoning displayed by Legrand and the loyalty shown by Jupiter and the narrator shown towards him needs to be also recognised and appreciated. With all the doubts they had about his sanity, they don’t abandon him and leave him to suffer in desolation. With such deep, dark, and foreboding line of work to his credit, Poe has remained well-known for weaving such mysteries. Leaving such literary mysteries was not enough for him, which is why he has left behind his own death as an enigma to be solved. Was it opium, alcohol, absinthe, or depression? No one can confirm it. Various reasons are given for his death at such an early age of 40. Poe’s addiction to drugs and alcohol are the prime reasons stated. This has been validated by the assumption that many of his narrators admitted the use of opium in the stories. As already assumed that Poe and his work were interrelated, then his characters using opium also meant him using it. However, this simply does not justify Poe’s drug addiction. As admitted by Poe’s enemy, Dr. Thomas Dunn English, Poe wasn’t accustomed to opium. He said, as mentioned in “The Independent”, October 15, 1896, “Had Poe the opium habit when I knew him, I should, both as a physician and a man of observation, have discovered it in his frequent visits to my rooms, my visits to his house, and our meetings elsewhere. I saw no signs of it” (Cummings). On the other hand, the effects of opiates and morphine did effect and also inspired him to write. The hallucinogenic affects of the drugs became his personal source of creativity. Alcohol is also considered as the decline of his health. However, after 147 years after his death, investigation by doctors at the University Of Maryland Medical Centre states that Poe died of rabies, not from alcoholism (“Edgar Allan Poe Mystery”). When the hospital records were unearthed, it showed that Poe’s was delirious with tremors and hallucinogens before he went into coma – symptoms related to human rabies. Moreover, the astonishing fact is that his medical records proved that there was no alcohol in his blood for the past 6 months before he died. So it medically rules out his alcohol binge. No matter how confusing and enigmatic his death remains, what remains true is his contribution to American literature. Not only are his enthralling stories and entertaining poems read in classrooms but also have much to offer to everyone. All but few of his works are dark, menacing, and thoughtful, but his inspiration and motivation comes from the depth of his feelings, which proves his dedication to his work. Abuse of alcohol and drugs, humiliation from his dysfunctional family inspired him to engage in self-expression, even though it made him lose hope and his life in the process. Considering all his vices, he left behind a variety of genres to be read, enjoyed, and appreciated. Works Cited. “Poe’s Life.” PoeMuseumOrg. n.d. Web. 2 Jul 2012. Asiado, Tel. “Edgar Allan Poe Biography, Famous for the Raven.” Suite101. 2010. Web. 2 Jul 2012. Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Gold Bug and Other Tales.” rtlibrary.org. 1991. Web. 2 Jul 2012. Kelley, Tasha. “The Dark Side of Edgar Allan Poe.” Suite101. 2010.Web. 2 Jul 2012. Patterson, Arthur Paul. “The Gold Bug.” Water Shed Online. n.d. Web. 2 Jul 2012. < http://www.watershedonline.ca/poe/essays/goldbug.html> Cummings, Michael J. “The Gold Bug: A study guide”. Cummingsstudyguides. 2010. Web. 2 Jul 2012. “Edgar Allan Poe Mystery.” University Of Maryland Medical Centre. 24 Sept 1996. Web. 2 Jul 2012. < http://www.umm.edu/news/releases/news-releases-17.htm#ixzz1zRdgsJnG> Read More