Edgar Allan Poe Rabies

Death has always been an inevitable event that all of us are doomed to face. It is something that we cannot escape and we are all certain of its occurrence, however one thing that we are not certain of is the cause of death. A perfect example of this is Edgar Allan Poe’s death. Many theories have speculated about his tragic death and the two main causes of Poe’s deaths argued at the moment are death from rabies and death from alcoholism. Any individual could see both sides of the argument but the opinion with the disadvantage is that alcoholism was the cause of his death. For instance, the article “Poe’s Final Days” suggests “Poe may have been too drunk to care about protecting himself against the wind and rain”(Kenneth Silverman). This is

Poe’s death explanation of rabies seems to fit in the mystery of his death. For example in the article “Poe’s Death is Rewritten as Case of Rabies, Not Telltale Alcohol” it claims, “Poe refused alcohol and could drink water only with water. Rabies victims frequently exhibit hydrophobia, or fear of water, because it is painful to swallow”(The New York Times). This is an exceptional piece of evidence as it shows a symptom of rabies and it matches Poe’s actions of his last days. This is also the only logical piece of evidence that works for it as alcohol intoxication wouldn’t work for it or any other theory in that matter. Poe is actually seem to displaying symptoms of Rabies in this moment. The same article also says “ After an infection, the symptoms can take up to a year to appear. But when the symptoms do appear, the disease is a swift and brutal killer. Most patients die in a few days”(The New York Times). This goes along with Edgar Allan Poe’s sudden death. Accounts seem to show he was fine in the last month but then abruptly Poe’s health declined and later died. The logic of the situation is proved for if Poe got the Rabies infection before where no one knew about it why he suddenly seemed ill. This also ties in with the article “ Rabies Death Theory” in which it claims “ … in the United States there have been 33 reported cases of human rabies, yet only 24 percent of these victims could recall an appropriate history of animal exposure”( The New York Times). This would explain why Poe had never mentioned a Rabies Bite and couldn’t recall such an event. The small percentage rate of people that remember Rabies bites would also explain why in Poe’s time period no one would suggest his death to cause of rabies. They only had limited knowledge back then but now with extensive research and experience, the medical field can better infer an individual's death.Proving that all evidence points towards Edgar