Analysis Of The Raven

Murder He Wrote?

I realize traditional interpretations of The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe consist of the Speaker feeling sorrow and extreme heartbreak over the loss of the love of his life, Lenore. This is a narrative gothic poem, about a man who’s love Lenore tragically dies. The narrator of the poem is heartbroken and does not know what to do with himself. A raven then shows up at his chamber door and will not leave the man at peace. The Speaker asks the Raven questions about Lenore, but the bird only answers with the single word “Nevermore.” This leads to frustration, and a great amount of anger. Tragically, the poem concludes with a very twisted ending. However, my analysis lead me down a different path; one of murder, remorse, guilt,

The Speaker then hears a sudden knock on his chamber door, confused as to who this visitor may be on this dreary midnight, he then goes to say, “Presently my soul grew stronger. Hesitating then no longer, “Sir,” said I, “or madam truly your forgiveness I implore. But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, and so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door.” (21-23). As the Speaker gets done apologizing to whomever is at the door, he opens the door and discovers there is nothing but darkness staring back at him. I think the darkness symbolizes that the mourning for Lenore is only going to get harder, that there is no light at the end of the tunnel. The guilt that he is feeling is weighing on him because the darkness that he sees staring back at him is a sign of fear and hopelessness. Fear that Lenore could come back and haunt him for what he did to her, and hopelessness that he knows he committed a terrible act which he will have to live with for the rest of his life. The Speaker stood in the darkness wondering, could it be Lenore? The silence was broken when he says, “And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, ‘Lenore?’ / This I

The Speaker is now banished in hell and is paying for his sins. The sin of murdering his love Lenore. When he realized what he had committed and what he had done to Lenore, he became fully aware that there was no going back, and Lenore was gone forever. Eventually, he knew he would have to pay for his sin. However, he avoided the day he would have to pay for the wrongdoing he committed. That’s when the Raven comes in, the Speaker’s guilty conscience is at an alltime high, he hears the knock at the chamber door and instantly is in fear for his life, and wondering if maybe it could be Lenore. He is so paranoid that Lenore could comeback to haunt him for what he did to her. Fortunately, it’s not Lenore and a raven instead. The Raven symbolizes the devil, whom is there to make him pay for what he did, and make him hurt like he made Lenore hurt. The Raven didn’t come to the Speaker’s chamber door to answer his questions and make him feel at ease. No, he came to make sure he descends into hell, and that his soul will never be lifted up. The Raven wants to make the Speaker feel even more remorse than he already does, and drive home the point that because of his sin, Lenore is gone forever. This makes sense, because if the Speaker hadn’t killed Lenore, then why would the Raven not answer the Speaker’s questions? Obviously he did kill Lenore and the Raven is just simply teaching him a lesson. As hard as it might be for the Speaker to go