"The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" by Edgar Allan Poe is a very interesting short story written in 1845. It is a fictional story that features the experiments done by a mesmerist. The story is written in way that draws the reader in. The language and style of writing is used to a specific end by the author. There are many different ways that the reader can interpret the story line and vivid language used by Poe. This detailed analysis will take a close look at the story's message, the writing style and overall theme of "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar". 

The story is narrated and told in passive view by Mr. P-. Edgar Allan Poe's story is about a mesmerist which becomes curious about mesmerizing someone at the exact point of death. The narrator finds a willing subject, M. Valdemar, whom he as hypnotized before and was dying of tuberculosis. M. Valdemar informed Mr. P- in a letter that he would not live past the next night and he immediately went to his bed side. Mr. P- was accompanied by two doctors, a medical student, and two nurses, who all there to witness the mesmerizing. At almost the exact time of death our narrator puts M. Valdemar under. Valdemar's breathing stop, his heart beat disappeared and his "extremities were of an icy coldness" (Poe 16).  According to the narrator, M. Valdemar was completely mesmerized and also completely dead, yet he was able to move and answer questions and declare that he was currently dead.  M. Valdemar was hypnotized for seven months, during this time he was checked on every day by the narrator and the doctors.  At the end of the seven month period, they decided to take him out of his mesmerized state. Mr. P- started making passes to unmesmerize him, "amid ejaculations of dead!dead!" (Poe 19), as if death would become a welcome blessing.  As soon as the sufferer was awakened he immediately decayed and turned into a "detestable putrescence" (Poe 19). 

At the time this story was written, mesmerism was a very controversial topic. At the time his short story was published it was not classified as fictional or nonfictional. Why Poe did this is open to interpretation but one reason might be that he wanted his readers to ponder this. He was known for his literary hoaxes and this may or may not be one of them. An aspect to support the story being based on a nonfictional account is the way the story is told. The narrator tell the story with confidence and even references 'medical records'. Another detail from the story that makes it seem like an account of actual events is the extremely detailed background that the narrator gives his friend and patient M. Ernest Valdemar. The fact that this event is not documented anywhere else might be evidence that the story is fictional. This seems to be exactly the response Poe desired to elicit from his readers. 

The way that Poe used certain words and descriptions created underlying messages in the story. One specific example of this is Poe's focus on the eyes of M. Valdemar is very interesting. Throughout the short story he uses several different ways to describe the eyes and especially the way they controlled themselves, "the eye-lids unclosed themselves"(Poe 16) and "the eyes rolled themselves slowly open"(Poe 17) These two examples that are written in way to support the validity of mesmerism. Mr. P- documents the eye movements as if the eyes were in control, this fact and the way he words it draws the reader in even more. This effect on the readers, an almost mesmerizing effect, is what Poe was trying to do; make us wonder who or what is in control. The way Poe describes the eyes throughout the story makes them seem of the upmost importance. This is not surprising since in most cultures the eyes are the openings to the soul. This again draws the reader in and makes us wonder what is really going in there, is his soul still within his body or did Mr. P- manage to mesmerize the soul instead of the body? Mr. P- was at first unsuccessful on the first attempt to relieve M. Valdemar from being mesmerize until a "partial descent of the iris" (Poe 19), could this be a sign that the door to his soul was opening? In the next line Mr. P- says that a "profuse out-flowing of a yellowish ichor...of a pungent and highly offensive odor" (Poe 19), is this telling us that the body is dead, thus drawing us in even more. The reader is left to wonder if the soul is really what was mesmerized and as soon as it was relieved, the soul left and the body immediately decayed because the soul was just holding on the body, keeping it there as a vessel because it could not leave. 

Throughout the story Poe uses passive language to tell "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar. The entire story is told like a coroner giving testimony in a court of law. The formations, patterns, and phrases used are that of a governmental report of the time. The way that the story invites the reader in, the way it draws our attention, while just simply stating the facts is an example of Poe's literary genius. This is the perfect way to write his 'report' to relate to the overall theme of the text, it was meant to state the facts and it did, it stated the facts in a most interesting way. 

Through his writing style Poe drew us in to a simple stating of the facts while sticking to the meaning and complete subject in "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar". Poe tells us of a miraculous story, whether true or not, about the mesmerist that managed to hypnotize a soul through the eyes. Poe's us of wording and syntax makes us raise many question. The story, the way it was told and the wording used makes readers ask the question: is it actually a fictional story or secret way of telling the truth? 
