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Edgar Allan PoeA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Throughout the story, the narrator struggles with a fear of death. His condition of catalepsy, which is the fear of being buried alive—being aware while smothered by darkness and impending death with no possibility of escape—functions as a metaphor for the human condition and the inevitable encounter with death. The narrator’s obsession with death manifests in symptoms that deeply disturb his everyday life, illustrating the importance of Conquering Fear or Else Succumbing to It. Too much dreaming about death has created a shadowy veil of gray over his life; he no longer exercises, and he fears leaving his home for any reason. Yet he even views his home as unsafe, and remodeling the family vault and securing oaths from his closest friends does little to assuage his fears and obsessions.
By avoiding everyday activities, obsessing in detail over accounts of premature burials, preparing his family vault for his own death, and often falling into unconscious trances that sometimes last several months, the narrator is not really living at all. At the very least, he does not lead a fulfilling life. The narrator’s name is never revealed; he simply functions as a vehicle for rationalizing and heightening a fear of premature burial.
By Edgar Allan Poe
A Dream Within a Dream
A Dream Within a Dream
Edgar Allan Poe
Annabel Lee
Annabel Lee
Edgar Allan Poe
Berenice
Berenice
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Hop-Frog
Hop-Frog
Edgar Allan Poe
Ligeia
Ligeia
Edgar Allan Poe
Tamerlane
Tamerlane
Edgar Allan Poe
The Black Cat
The Black Cat
Edgar Allan Poe
The Cask of Amontillado
The Cask of Amontillado
Edgar Allan Poe
The Conqueror Worm
The Conqueror Worm
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The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
Edgar Allan Poe
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Fall of the House of Usher
Edgar Allan Poe
The Gold Bug
The Gold Bug
Edgar Allan Poe
The Haunted Palace
The Haunted Palace
Edgar Allan Poe
The Imp of the Perverse
The Imp of the Perverse
Edgar Allan Poe
The Lake
The Lake
Edgar Allan Poe
The Man of the Crowd
The Man of the Crowd
Edgar Allan Poe
The Masque of the Red Death
The Masque of the Red Death
Edgar Allan Poe
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Edgar Allan Poe
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
Edgar Allan Poe
The Oval Portrait
The Oval Portrait
Edgar Allan Poe