
You may be under the common misconception that beauty is everything, it’s not. Seeing with your heart is way more powerful than seeing with your eyes. The heart can see what the eyes cannot. In Edgar Allen Poe’s, The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, for the argument in this essay, he illustrates the power of the soul being the center of a human being, holding one’s values, beliefs and even secrets. Often times we judge an individual solely on their appearance and outer shell. Throughout this story, the author is trying to tell us that there is a divergence between a person’s outlying appearance and their insides. Dialogue is used to show communication from the soul, which holds ultimate influence on the outside world. Using first person point of view, promotes listening to understand who a person is. Therefore, a mindful interior has greater power than a beautiful exterior. 

The defiance of certain names symbolizes the body and soul. Throughout the story, the narrator is preforming the difficult task of hypnotizing a man in “articulo mortis”, meaning at death. No one’s full names are given except for the man being hypnotized, Valdemar. The author says, “Doctors D-- and F-- were in attendance”, writing the names exactly as seen, only giving the first letters (Poe 68). This writing style allows for the magnification of the character Valdemar throughout the reading. In comparison, the title of the story mentions the name, Valdemar, forcing readers to unconsciously zero-in on him before a single page is read. I feel Poe is saying, people have names in order to feel connected to one another. A name can also tell a lot about an individual and give a brief insight into the much larger story of their life. This is why more description about Valdemar is given, saying: “His lower limbs much resembling those of John Randolph; and, also, for the whiteness of his whiskers, in violent contrast to the blackness of his hair...” (Poe 67). The narrator, P--, gives off distant and unapproachable feelings, because his name is not stated and no background information is given. It could be a common name, an ethnic name, an easily mispronounced name; there is no way of knowing. This is the goal of the author, putting more emphasis on Valdemar than anyone else in the story.  By this, Poe is saying Valdemar represents the interior soul and everyone else, whose names are not given, represent the exterior body. The outside of the body, the shell, protects everything valuable inside. The soul of an individual makes a person who they are, not the outside body alone. Poe wants to share the message that looking deeper into the heart can reveal a body’s purpose. 

The voice of M. Valdemar is the active conscience of a person. The man being memorized while at death, is the only person in the story who engages in speech to communicate. Valdemar is set to die in twenty-four hours when he calls for the narrator, P--, to come hypnotize him while dead. Slowly the patient becomes unable to move, entering a state of demise. This is when P-- starts to perform his act, moving the body and having Valdemar speak. As the movement of the outside body is unable to be controlled by the hypnotist, Valdemar says, “Yes; -no;-I have been sleeping-and Now-Now-I am dead” (Poe 71). Having Valdemar only speak short phrases, while in the act of dying, shows the soul is still present at death. The dialogue amplifies the division between mind and body. The decreased movement in Valdemar’s arm is mentioned before he starts to talk, clarifying the death of the exterior body. This detail is significant because its displays the body can be dead on the outside due to movement, but still alive on the inside due to voice. Closer to the end of the story, Valdemar is completely paralyzed, with only his tongue moving. As said in the text, “As I rapidly made the mesmeric passes, amid ejaculations of ‘dead! dead!’ absolutely bursting from the tongue and not from the lips of the sufferer…” (Poe 73). Emphasis is put on the exercise of only the tongue. The attention to this detail shows the relationship between the soul and a dead body; by demonstrating the fact that communication comes from within. This relates back to the argument point in the essay, that the heart defines a person. The interior soul can still function without the body, but the body cannot function without the soul. The mind is what makes up an individual and where voice is formed and therefore communicated to the outside world. Listening to speech can define who a person is.

The story is told through the eyes of the narrator, first person point of view. Throughout the reading, we hear about specific events, feelings and thoughts that gradually build an image in our heads of the narrator. In contrast, Valdemar’s character is portrayed in direct characterization, where his background is given. The narrator says, “I knew the steady philosophy of the man too well to apprehend any sculptures of him; and he had no relatives in American that would be likely to interfere” (Poe 67). This quote tells readers that Valdemar has no relatives in America; while showing readers that the narrator is unsentimental and selfish. Valdemar is a dying man and all the narrator seems to care about is that no one can stop him from performing his experiment. The purpose of first person in this story is to give direct characterization of Valdemar, while giving indirect characterization of the narrator. Having given no prior information about the narrator, not even his full name, readers are forced to make judgements solely on thoughts and feelings. As previously said, values and emotions are planted in the soul. This relates back to the overall argument, saying that Poe is trying to teach readers to look at a person based on their insides. This is exactly what happens through the whole story; being compelled to form conclusions about P--, without ever having a visual description. Readers are given an insight into the narrator’s soul and can feel how they feel about the unnamed speaker. 

Character comes from within. Edgar Allan Poe defines the argument, to never judge a person based solely on appearance. Listening to the heart can determine the ultimate intentions of a human being. The overall magnification of Valdemar, symbolizes the soul. A person speaks from experiences and feelings that are brewed within. There can be ethical souls as well as corrupt souls, but we all have one; filled with what makes you who you are today.       

  