In his short story "The Facts in the Case of M Valdemar" Edgar Allen Poe suggests that death is inevitable: although one can try to avoid one's mortality, there is essentially no way to escape one's fate. M. Valdemar is a character that attempts to escape death, but ultimately, there is nothing he can do. P., the narrator of the short story, confronts Valdemar with an option to prolong his life. Through mesmerization, P. believes he can help Valdemar potentially overcome his illness and continue to live longer. Although the plan is obscure, Valdemar is left with no other option, and twenty-four hours before the doctors say Valdemar will die, P attempts to hypnotize Valdemar into living longer. However, this attempt turns into an inhumane scientific experiment. Valdemar knows that his life is nearing its end, but P. tries to make Valdemar hopeful for his mortality.  Ultimately, he was not successful, watching Valdemar's body rot away beneath his hands. His mind and soul was not willing to accept that he was going to die; however, his body did and began to decay. Poe, an author notorious for his obsession with death, writes a dark short story on how flirting with death ultimately leads to consequences worse than accepting the ultimatum of mortality.  In "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar," Poe alludes to the fact that attempting to interfere with the forces of life can cause greater hardship than simply accepting one's impending fate. 

The story starts with P describing his obsession of mesmerization and the idea of mesmerizing someone on the brink of death.  P soon meets with his friend, M Ernest Valdemar, and performs multiple small mesmeric experiments on him with success.  After getting permission to experiment on Valdemar when he is close to death, P receives a letter from Valdemar, while on his deathbed, stating that the doctors have only given him a limited amount of time to live. Valdemar is diagnosed with phthisis, also known as tuberculosis, and both Doctor D. and Doctor F. are unable to cure Valdemar of his disease. Upon P's arrival to Valdemar's deathbed, it is clear that Valdemar has little time to live. Poe depicts Valdemar's condition: "His face wore a leaden hue; the eyes were utterly lusterless; and the emaciation was so extreme that the skin had been broken through by the cheek-bones. His expectoration was excessive. The pulse was barely perceptible. He retained, nevertheless, in a very remarkable manner, both his mental power and a certain degree of physical strength." Poe writes that Valdemar's eyes are lusterless, and describing the lack of luster in Valdemar's eyes further emphasizes that he has almost accepted defeat and there is little hope left for him. However, P. is eager to attempt to hypnotize Valdemar in hope for a medical breakthrough.

In order to keep the experiment more controlled and better documented, P. brings Mr. Theodore L. with him to record notes on the experiment. P's first attempt to hypnotize Valdemar is unsuccessful, but P. alters his techniques and eventually completely hypnotizes Valdemar. In great detail, Poe describes P's hypnosis techniques when he says, "I was not satisfied, however, with this, but continued the manipulations vigorously, and with the fullest exertion of the will, until I had completely stiffened the limbs of the slumberer, after placing them in a seemingly easy position." Poe's diction causes the reader to feel as though Valdemar is undergoing an unorthodox and cruel procedure. The phrase "continued the manipulations vigorously" seems as though P. has almost forgotten that Valdemar is a person and not just an experimental object. P's actions make it seem that he is only concerned with his experiment being successful, both for his own curiosity, as well as, Valdemar's hubris that let the experiment be performed on him. P leaves Valdemar, and at three in the morning, he returns to Valdemar to see if the experiment was successful. Doctor D. and Doctor F. are both astonished that Valdemar is still living; however, Valdemar's symptoms are still pertinent. Poe describes the surprising state of Valdemar when the patient states, "Yes; -no; -I have been sleeping -and now -now -I am dead." In an attempt to save Valdemar, P's hypnotic experiment causes Valdemar to be in a state of mind where he is fully aware that he is dead; and consequently, he suffers an unusual and terrifying death. Valdemar makes it clear to P that he can no longer take the horrid treatment when he states, "For God's sake! -quick! -quick! -put me to sleep -or, quick! -waken me! -quick! -I say to you that I am dead!" Valdemar felt his body slipping away, and it was clear to him that there was not longer hope for him. 

The story concludes with Valdemar's body decomposing in P.'s hands into a "liquid mass of loathsome - of detestable putrescence." Poe paints a vivid picture in the reader's mind by using the word "putrescence", a word that carries the connotation of something being rotten and foul. Due to the false idea that one can escape death, Valdemar is forced to experience a much more gruesome death. Instead of dying from natural causes, Valdemar decomposes into a pile of liquid human decay. No human should have to experience having a conscious mind and the ability to communicate as they lay on their deathbed with their body decomposing before them. If Valdemar were to just accept his inevitable fate from the beginning of his diagnosis, he would not have been forced to experience such a horrific death. Poe's use of diction emphasizes his view on death and how it is something that is natural and shouldn't be avoided.

Poe's diction suggests that death is an inevitable force, and if one attempts to avoid the inevitable of death, there can be severe consequences. Poe stating that Valdemar's eyes are lusterless combined with both Doctor D. and Doctor F. stating that there is nothing left that they can do to help Valdemar hint that Valdemar should not have tried to cheat death from the beginning. Valdemar still choses to flirt with the idea of escaping death, resulting in severe consequences. P. keeps Valdemar in the hypnotic state where Valdemar is aware of his fate, but there is nothing Valdemar can personally do to alter his state of mind and accept dying. Instead, both P. and Valdemar hold onto a sense of false hope that death can be avoided. Hypnosis is an altered, false state of mind, and through this metaphorical short story, Poe alludes to the fact that any hope for escaping death is also a false and impossible concept. In conclusion, while "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" seems as though it is just dark, fictitious story on a science experiment gone wrong, there is an underlying message; Poe is attempting to communicate to the reader that death is an imminent factor and fearing death will cause greater hardship than to simply accept the realms of life.


