Could The Raven Represent Something Other Than A Simple Bird?

Could the Raven represent something other than a simple Bird?

Edgar Allan Poe, a man who has changed literature through his numerous pieces of writing, such as The Cask of Amontillado, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Fall of the House of Usher. In Edgar Allan Poe’s famous work, The Raven, the main character is confronted with a raven. The character speaks to the raven, thinking it couldn’t respond, but the raven did respond, but only speaking one word, “Nevermore” (Poe 331). In some cases of mental illnesses, one can experience hallucinations, hearing voices, paranoia, and even persecutory delusion. Is it possible that the Raven could have symbolized something other than a bird. When people hear the words, “mental illness,” they think of insane

Schizophrenia affects only 1.1% percent of the American population, but that is around 2.2 million people affected by it. While analyzing the text, these symptoms come up numerous times. In the beginning of the story, the narrator is frightened by the “uncertain rustling of each purple curtain” (330). When an individual is affected by schizophrenia, they sometimes forget about logic and reasoning, this is why the narrator speaks to the Raven. Whenever a schizophrenic hallucinates, they feel that whatever they see is very real.The narrator then speaks to the raven, the raven responds. It is possible that the narrator thought that the raven said that, but it could have maybe had been his own mind. Hearing voices is one of the many symptoms of schizophrenia, as is hallucinations. It is also possible for the narrator to have hallucinated the raven. While thinking the narrator may have schizophrenia, it

Some are just classified as ticks and characteristic traits. Especially during the 1800s, it was unusual for someone to be classified as having a mental disorder. Medicine and mental illnesses were not yet understood in the 1800’s and the “scientific” treatments that were favored, were examples of rudimentary forms of torture. Imagine being drenched with hundreds of gallons while being restrained. In present times, this is called waterboarding, and is an example of torture. That is just one of the many, many examples of “cures” they used back then, such as “The Electric Chair,” Waterboarding, Mental Asylums, beaten to near death, and unfortunately, many more. The three primary procedures that were used to “cleanse” the patient, were called the BVP. Also known as Bleeding(cutting), Vomiting(emetic), and Purging(laxative). Doctors used the idea of being able to expel fluids from the patient, that it would cure them. However, that was not the case. Most societies thought that mental illnesses were thought to be relations with the devil, such as possession and exorcism. So they used BVP as a way of “cleansing” the patient. Without the medical advances we have today, we are able to notice the chemical imbalances in the brains of patients, and can prescribe medications to help balance the chemicals in the brain. Some people fail to realize that mental illnesses such as depression aren’t just a feeling. A person might