Edgar Allen Poe was one of the most notorious and formidable writers in not only American literature but World literature. His works are often associated with horror and mystery. I chose to read The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar by Poe, it was published in 1845 and is one of his more gruesome and descriptive short stories. An analysis of Edgar Allen Poe's grimly detailed short story reveals that death is inevitable, despite advances in science and technology. Letting nature take its course and accepting death is the correct way to face mortality. 

The Facts in the case of M. Valdemar is a story about a mesmerist who decides to conduct a medical experiment as his friend is on his death bed. As the man is laying there dying, the mesmerist puts him into a hypnotic state which results in prolonging the man's life although failing to show typical signs of life such as a pulse. The man is in this trance state for seven months, he is unresponsive to anything except for the words of the mesmerist. The mesmerist often repeats the question to the man, "M. Valdemar are you asleep?" Even though life has seemed to retreat from the man's body, he responds saying "yes; asleep now. Do not wake me! - let me die so!" (Poe, Page 26). M. Valdemar goes on to say that he feels no more pain caused by the tuberculosis that is claiming his life, yet he insist to let him die in peace. After seven months the mesmerist decides to snap M. Valdemar out of his trance. The motionless body immediately begins to decay and decompose into a gelatinous clump right in front of the observers eyes "his whole frame at once- within the space of a single minute, or even less, shrunk-crumpled-absolutely rotted away beneath my hands." (Poe, Page 29). The conclusion of this short story backs up my interpretation that death is not something that can be avoided. Throughout history men have sought elixirs and tricks to prolong life or to reach ultimate immortality. You cannot interfere with death and the appropriate action when facing death is to let nature take its course. Science and technology have greatly advanced civilization but death is one thing that cannot be altered or evaded. In this case when the mesmerist tries to ward of M. Valdemar's natural demise it ends in an even more gruesome death. Prolonging the death process is useless because you will eventually reach your end and life is pretty meaningless when you are in pain. People should find solace in someone's death to know that all of the suffering is over, the dead are now in peace. 

Poe often uses extreme detail when describing M. Valdemar's state throughout the story. As an example Poe writes "The eyes rolled themselves slowly open, the pupils disappearing upwardly; the skin generally assumed a cadaverous hue, resembling not so much parchment as white paper; and the circular hectic spots which, hitherto, had been strongly defined in the centre of each cheek, went out at once" (Poe, Page 27) This use of imagery is very important in the story because it utilizes the reader's senses and allows you to become more involved in the story. Poe also uses imagery extremely well during the climax of the story when he writes "Upon the bed, before that whole company, there lay a nearly liquid mass of loathsome- of detestable putrescence" (Poe, Page 29). This quote comes at the very end of the story to give a horrific visual scene of what happened to the mesmerist's medical subject after seven months avoiding death. These quotes back up the two conflicts that appear in this short story, Man vs. Self and Man vs. Nature. It is human instinct to escape death, no one wants to die. Death instills fear into people because it is so unknown. No one has the answer to what lies beyond the world we know. Religion has given people the hope that they will find eternal life after this one which makes death easier to cope with but the concept of life beyond this one is not promised. Some people go to great lengths to prolong their life. It is frivolous to concern yourself with avoiding death because it will happen eventually, you should focus on the life you are living now and let death come when it is your time. Victims of disease are desperate for anything that will put off death, they will go to radical measures with no knowledge or care for what the possible negative effects can be. It is better to die at your allotted time than to live life in pain. In some certain circumstances the proposed cure can advance the oncoming of death and make the process harder to bear. 

Poe was haunted by demons all his life; it is reflected in his work and The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar is almost to the extent of how dark and gloomy his works could be. Poe's life was full of heartbreak, mostly due to a majority of his loved ones dying of tuberculosis. Many of the themes that appeared in "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" also show up in his other works. Themes such as curiosity about death and the inevitability of it. The inspiration for this story came from Edgar Allen Poe's own medical research and curiosity; Poe also attended lectures on Mesmerism. The vivid imagery he shows in this story can be attributed to him witnessing his own wife, Virginia, dying slowly of tuberculosis. The story itself when published in 1845 was thought to be a true account of what happened when someone was in a state of hypnosis during the time of death. Reader's questioned the plausibility of the short story and it intrigued their own curiosity of death. Poe received several letters from doctors who gave their results when they tried something similar. Edgar Allen Poe replied by saying that it was a hoax.

The Fact in the Case of M. Vladimir is one of Edgar Allen Poe's most horrifying works of literature due to its gruesome detailed imagery. The theme of the story is that there is no way around death, it is a part of nature and to attempt to prolong it will only make the actual moment of death worse. Death is inevitable and no magic potion or method can alter what is going to happen to you eventually. In the case of M. Vladimir, the life of his soul remained while his actual body deteriorated and when he finally snapped out of the hypnosis he faced a terrifying end.  

