LITR 4328 American Renaissance Research Posts 2015 (research post assignment) Research Post 1

Sarah Robin Roelse

15 March 2015

Why the Gothic?  Why Poe?

                Introduction

                Within our class, we have often asked ourselves, “What makes the gothic narrative so appealing to readers?”  “Why do we find it interesting?” and, “Why are we still reading gothic literature centuries after it was written—what in it is so captivating that it keeps reeling us back in for more?”  Through analyzing works written about the genre’s most well-known writer, Edgar Allan Poe, I have come to realize that the gothic is so interesting because it not only creates our fears, but shoves them in our faces, forcing us to look them in the eye.  In Poe’s writing, we can see heavy amounts of the gothic and what it can do to one’s soul—it can disintegrate our ability to live and feel alive; it can leave us cold and pale from the life that it’s dredged from us; it can even leave us speechless, because the writer has already introduced what we often fear the most.

            The Raven

            The most famous of Poe’s poems is my favorite; while I’ve always thought it to be beautiful, I found it this way because of its morbidity.  Through one research essay I found, the writer connects themes of the gothic to The Raven and gives insight as to why the writing clings to us still.  Poe’s point in writing The Raven is to express one’s fear of losing a loved one. In this case the narrator has lost his beloved Lenore and is predicting that this raven will soon leave him, too, we see this in his lines, “Other friends have flown before –/On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before” (Poe, The Raven, 1845).  In this sentence alone, the author has given us enough insight as to what he is really lamenting – his fear of being alone, not just that Lenore has died, but being alone in general  (Asad123, 2013).  Upon the raven entering the narrator’s chamber, which can be compared to a human sinking into the darkest recesses and “various parts of the mind,” the reader feels the need to keep reading because they are lucky not to be crumbling like this man, even if they, too, have faced losing a loved one and being alone(Marx, 2015).  Perhaps loneliness and abandonment are so heavily used in Poe’s writing because it was a topic he personally experienced in his life and thought others could relate to, or maybe it was just his way of dealing with the terrible depression that he faced  (Unknown, 2014).

            The Fall of the House of Usher

            During my research, one of the most exciting aspects that I found about The Fall of the House of Usher is that the house itself represents the cranium, and the insides (chambers, rooms, hallways, etc…) represent the crevices of a deranged human psyche (or humans, as is the case) (Marx, 2015).  The Ushers are not sane people; they have been leading down a line of incest for years, which is what is actually driving Raymond crazy—the decision to procreate with Madeline or to let the bloodline die with them; this is also a crucial debate for Madeline in the narrative.  The fear that this brings forth from people is haunting, and it makes the reader ask themselves if they would go to such great links in order to keep up appearances and lineage.  The realization that there are only two options available—neither of which is ideal—is what really makes this a twisted puzzle for the reader, as well as for the narrator.  When people have to make decisions about their lineage, especially people of higher class, they often tend to hold those responsibilities with very high regard and take them extremely seriously (Mohler, 2010).  Ultimately, the decision that Raymond makes drives him more over the edge than he already was, and leads to Madeline attacking him, causing their appearance (and house) to literally decay with them (and their visitor) inside it (Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher, 1893).

            The Tell-Tale Heart

            While this is definitely a top five short story for me, I had honestly never thought of the psychological factors that are associated with it until we talked about Poe’s other work in class, so I decided to track down some information about the story itself and learned some very insightful things.  While we can see that the narrator is insane, just upon reading the first few lines of the story, “How, then, am I mad?  Hearken! and observe how healthily—how calmly I can tell you the whole story,” the reader is left terribly uncomfortable because they know that what they are going to “hear” is the story of a madman.  Upon “listening” to the story of this madman, inside the reader can easily start to see how they might want to get rid of this ghastly, vulture-like eye, too—causing the reader to question their own sanity.  As the pressure mounts within the story for the narrator, the reader also becomes apprehensive and anxious, thinking that they, too, could be caught for something they have done  (Reilly, 2011). 
            This is a classic sign of psychological distress being put on the reader—it forces us to question recurring thoughts that people often have:  To speed, or not to speed? To murder, or to let live?  To stick it out, or to go out in flames like Thelma and Louise?— and whether or not they are actions worth committing.  The psychological fight here is both internal and external.  The internal fight is between the narrator’s logic; the external fight is between the narrator and his actions after he killed his father (primarily confessing to police) (Poe, 1850).  While this psychological fight is often seen with people who have a diagnoses of schizophrenia, it is alarming to people who don’t generally show signs of mental illness because it eats at their thoughts, making them feel like they are the narrator himself, and that they might be just as crazy as he is.

What I Have Learned Through My Research

            I have learned that the reason humans love the gothic so much, especially Poe, is because we crave to see other people’s demise and downfall—a practice very similar to driving past a car-wreck on the freeway and slowing down to rubberneck.  People feel the need to see something beautiful being torn apart.  People want to confront their fears by looking at someone else’s situation that is comparable to their own.  I have learned that even though these written works are centuries old, humans read and enjoy them because we need “fake” distress in our lives, and feed on it with relentless hunger; much like an animal would its prey.  I have learned that while the gothic is beautiful, it is also scary because it mirrors images in ourselves that we may not want to face or deal with. From my own knowledge of Poe, I can tell that he made connections in his writing to his personal life, which is attractive to an audience because there are many aspects of his life which were harrowing, yet romantic; his lack of luck with women, his dependency on various substances, and his early death are all aspects of his life that people find interesting to dissect and study.

References

Asad123. (2013, May 12). Poem Analysis “The Raven” Edgar Allen Poe. Retrieved from www.asad123.com: http://asad123.com/2013/05/12/poem-analysis-the-raven-edgar-allen-poe/

               Marx, R. (2015, January 01). The Ruined Mind in "Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Raven". Retrieved from https://suite.io/: https://suite.io/robin-marx/56e32hm

               Mohler, A. (2010, Decenber 15). So, Why Is Incest Wrong? Retrieved from www.albertmohler.com: http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/12/15/so-why-is-incest-wrong/

               Poe, E. A. (1845). The Raven. Retrieved from www.poestories.com: http://poestories.com/read/raven

               Poe, E. A. (1850). The Tell-Tale Heart. Retrieved from www.poestories.com: http://poestories.com/read/telltaleheart

               Poe, E. A. (1893). The Fall of the House of Usher. Retrieved from www.poestories.com: http://poestories.com/read/houseofusher

               Reilly, J. E. (2011, December 18). The Lesser Death-Watch and “The Tell-Tale Heart". Retrieved from www.eapoe.org: http://www.eapoe.org/papers/misc1921/jer19691.htm