Death is the end of one's life, the culmination of one's previous years in a single, almost imperceptible moment.  Throughout the ages, death has always been feared and the mere glimmer of hope that one may be able to elude death has pushed people to many extremes.  "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" by Edgar Allen Poe shows what happens when one man attempts to defy the circle of life.  We are told the story of the "dissolution" (13) of Mr. M. Valdemar as he is led by Dr. P - in an attempt to elude the steely grips of death, suffering mental and physical deterioration along the way in the form of a most gruesome demise.  "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" expresses unequivocally the inevitability of death and how the attempts to thwart one's "dissolution" results in a more gruesome demise of not only the body, but also of the mind.

Dr. P-, the conductor of the mesmerization experiments, is a somewhat mysterious character.  We do not know much about him except for the fact that he practices mesmerization. We do not know of his credentials in the act of mesmerization, only that his attention "for the last three years, had been repeatedly drawn to the subject of Mesmerism" (13).  During his three years of experience, he has been led by nothing other than sheer curiosity.  This curiosity led him to the realization that no subject had even been mesmerized "in articulo mortis" (13), or at the moment of death.  He took great interest in this "very remarkable and most unaccountable omission" (13).  At first, he attempted to justify his curiosity through scientific means, but in the end his true intentions are revealed.  Dr. P-'s curiosity burns to know "to what extent, or for how long a period, the encroachments of Death might be arrested by the process," (13).  This is the true driving factor behind Dr. P-'s curiosity because of the "immensely important character of its consequences" (13).  Dr. P - - is really looking for is not advancement in the scientific community, but for a way that he might be able to avoid death altogether or at least prolong life.

Hope is one of the many things that can keep people going in the face of difficult times, but in some cases it is the source of a long and arduous battle when one hopes to avoid something as inevitable of death.  In the case of M. Valdemar, we see a man whose mental stability is deteriorated by hope.  Hope that is given to him by the possibility of prolonging his life or possibly avoiding death all together.  When we meet M. Valdemar, we are introduced to a man that had been sick for "some months" (14).  He is well aware of his impending death and "spoke calmly of his approaching dissolution, as a matter neither to be avoided nor regretted" (14).  We are introduced to a man that has accepted his fate and is mentally prepared to die.  

This attitude changes when Dr. P - - gives M. Valdemar a way out, a way to avoid his "approaching dissolution" (13).  As the moment of his death comes nearer, M. Valdemar becomes "quite willing even anxious" (15) to begin the mesmerization process, his interest is described as "vividly excited" (14).  The man who once viewed his death as something to "neither be avoided nor regretted" (14) is now desperate to do what he thinks will hinder his impending demise.  His "urgent entreaties" (15) prop Dr. P-  - to hasten the mesmerization process.  

Once mesmerized, we see the return of the calm, cool and collected M. Valdemar. He is ready for death.  While under the spell of mesmerization Valdemar seems almost at peace with what is happening.  He is at rest, "asleep now" (17).  When questioned by Dr. P - - he utters statements such as "Do not wake me! - let me die so!" (17). Valdemar is ready to die he feels "no pain" (17) and has once again accepted his fate.  

So far, we have seen M. Valdemar swing back and forth between accepting his fate and fighting it.  However at the moment of his death, he is no longer in a peaceful state.  Amongst yells of "Dead! Dead!" (19) we are shown that once again M. Valdemar is fighting his natural demise.  When he is awoken from his seven month long mesmerization it is clear that M. Valdemar is no longer at peace.  "For Gods Sake! - quick! - quick! - put me to sleep - or, quick! - waken me! - quick! - I say to you that I am dead" (19). These are not the words of a peaceful man, these are the words of a man that is struggling and unhappy with where he is, whether that be alive or dead.  He no longer cares if he is awoken or put back to sleep; he just doesn't want to be where he is, and with this we are able to see the culmination of the mental deterioration of M. Valdemar.  The man who started out neither rejecting nor fearing his death is now yelling incoherently. His death which would have been uneventfully peaceful had it occurred naturally has turned into a scene from a horror movie.  This deterioration shows the inevitability of death and how the act of attempting to elude it not only fails but also backfires and damages the mind, making peace impossible.

Not only does this deterioration happen to the mind, but also to the body.  When a person dies a normal death of natural causes, they pass away quietly.  There is little to no histrionics and the exact moment of death is sometimes hard to discern because it is so imperceptible. In the case of M. Valdemar, however, the moment of death is not so peaceful.  In a group of people where "no member of the party then present had been unaccustomed to death-bed horrors" (17), M. Valdemar's death caused a "general shrinking back from the region of the bed." If his death were to occurred naturally, I doubt this horror would have happened.  It was the act of trying to avoid death that made death that much worse to the observers.  

Death is made worse not only for the observers, but also for M. Valdemar himself.  While under mesmerization, M. Valdemar may appear to be in no physical pain.  When he is awoken that is reversed. When a person normally dies, their physical appearance is not too different.  There may be a loss of color or a general stiffness of the body, but it is still recognizable.  In the case of M. Valdemar, however, his body become unrecognizable.  When he is awoken from his mesmerized state, M. Valdemar immediately begins to disintegrate into a "nearly liquid mass of loathsome - of detestable putrescence" (19).  This most certainly would not have happened had M. Valdemar and Dr. P - - let his death run its natural course.  Their intervention caused a natural occurring life event to become a gruesome, horrific scene.

For the average person, death is an inevitable life event.  You are born, you live, and then you die. The thought of the ending of one's life and entering the unknown that comes afterwards is terrifying to most people.  Because of this fear, many people may dream of and even attempt to elude their own death.  The disruption of the natural course of events is a catalyst for events worse than death.  "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" illustrates some of these horrible events that occur after the elusion of death.  We can see the physical and mental deterioration that occurs after one attempts to thwart death.  Edgar Allen Poe expresses the importance of letting life run its natural course, and the importance of not attempting to elude one's death.
