Edgar Allan Poe's Life Reflected In Not Mad, Differently Sane

Not Mad, Differently Sane: American Literature Shaped by Poe’s Life

Edgar Allan Poe is regarded as one of the most famous authors of all time. He is known for his horrific tales and his cynical view on life. Because of his personal tragedies it is only fitting that, as troubled as Poe was, he would write such stories. But he didn’t just write Gothic Literature, he is also the father of the first detective novels. Poe’s life and death is cloaked in mystery, but we do know that his tragedies shaped his life and ours through the form of his writing. Edgar Allan Poe was a great author who used the unfortunate circumstances of his life to write great literature. He used his childhood, his adult experiences, and his continuous drug and alcohol abuse

David Poe Jr., left his family and later died in 1811. At the age of twenty-four, his mother, Elizabeth Arnold Poe, died of tuberculosis on December 8, 1811, when Poe was just three years old. This was probably the first death to warped Poe’s mind. Edgar once said that he would "always remember - more or less unconsciously-his mother vomiting blood and being carried away from him forever by sinister men dressed in black” (PBS, 2017). Mrs. Poe had two other children who were separated from Edgar when she died. Edgar was taken in by John and Frances Valentine Allan, a friend of his mother’s. Even though Frances wasn’t Edgar’s real mother, she treated him like he was her own son, while his “adoptive” father didn’t like him. John Allen was a successful tobacco merchant in Virginia, and wanted Edgar to join him as a clerk in his business, but Poe had no interest in becoming like his “adoptive” father. Poe wanted to become a poet, but John didn’t support him in his dreams even though his wife did. He saw writing as frivolous and didn’t want Poe to have anything to do with it, even though by thirteen Poe was already a great writer. When Edgar got older, he attended the University of Virginia in 1826. Edgar excelled in the classes that John had him placed in, but he also wanted take writing classes. Not having any money to attend the classes he wanted, Edgar resorted to gambling. Instead of helping him, the gambling

Somehow he just kind of disappeared. His final days remain somewhat of a mystery, but we do know that he continued to be very distraught over Virginia's death. On September 28, 1849, he resurfaced to attend a birthday party in Baltimore, where he went on a drinking spree. A month later he was found ill in a gutter and taken to Washington College Hospital where he died on October 7, 1849. It is said that his last words were "Lord help my poor soul" (PBS, 2017). He was buried in what is now Westminster Churchyard on October 8, 1849, and later a monument was built for