
 Death affects everyone differently; some people drink, some cry, some write about it, and others try to ignore it so that they do not fall apart. You will never know how such a traumatizing experience will affect you until you personally experience it. Poe writes about death throughout “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” very calmly. Those that know about Poe are aware that his life was full of sorrow and tragedy. This is what gave him the capability to write in such a manner. Death will affect everyone that knew the deceased, so how can Poe be so calm while writing about such a delicate topic? Even though he experienced many catastrophic moments, the loss of a person should never be taken lightly no matter how much death has numbed out your emotions.

Throughout the story Poe continuously mentions death (twenty-three times) (67, 69-73) so that the reader knows that in the end M. Valdemar is inevitably going to die. Although, throughout the narrative of the story, he is described as a sleeping body that can still speak. Every time his words change, but it is always along the lines of “Yes; --asleep now. Do not wake me! —let me die so” (70)! Yes, M. Valdemar is in a hypnotic state, but he keeps responding that he is asleep and in the process of dying (70-73). Yet, the doctors considered him to already be dead. If a person is capable of speaking, can he truly be considered dead? Death is not something to be taken lightly as many people are hurt by death. Nobody could bare to think about losing someone that is close to them, regardless if a person already knew that they were going to die, and their loved ones were also informed of this. A traumatic event as such is still going to cause them a lot pain and they will be in shock for a while. Could you imagine the actual pain that someone would go through if they did not know that someone they cared for deeply just passed?

That pain is something unimaginable unless if you have personally experienced it yourself. This pain does not slowly creep up as you would hope, it comes as quick as a lightning bolt hitting the ground. Making a person incapable of thinking of anything else, besides the fact that someone they care for deeply is gone and they will never see or hear from them again. It makes you wish that you would have spent more time with them, and would have enjoyed their company more while they were still around. Could you envision finding out about something this terrible while being in a public place? I can because I have sadly experienced a tragic event as such.

Finding out about a person’s death is already bad enough, but realizing that everyone else already knew makes it worse. Yet your brother is capable of telling you that one of your friends died that morning, but did not tell you about the other one. While at work, your other friends had just informed you that someone else close to you had passed away that same morning in a car accident. The situation was made worse because nobody truly knew if that was our friend. The two other people in the car were identified, but he was burned so badly that they could not identify who he was for several days. Therefore, for all of those days he was a John Doe. The questioning in your head goes on and on and you ask yourself, “could that have been him? Could it be someone else? Is he still alive somewhere out there and just won’t come home?” The constant questioning does not just go away because you want them to. A person will continue to question themselves until they know for sure it was the person that they care for. Even after that, the pain does not get any better and the memories of that person do not just simply fade away.

In reality, the memories make sure that the pain never goes away. Every time that you think about them you can feel your heart shatter a bit. It makes you feel like you have a lot of weight on your chest and you just cannot seem to catch your breath. The fact that Poe was capable of writing something so morbid, but still being capable of being calm about the situation is a bit unusual. When it comes to the story, one could only assume that Poe does this on purpose since he is writing this from a doctors point of view. Therefore, he can calmly talk about putting someone in a hypnotic state so that they can die in peace. Even once M. Valdemar is in a trance, the doctor does not leave him alone to die in peace. M. Valdemar knows what is occurring and that he is not being left alone in his trance and it infuriates him. It gets to the point where he is shouting “For God’s sake! – quick! – quick! —put me to sleep—or, quick! – waken me! —quick! —I say to you that I am dead!” (73). Being in a hypnotic state should never be considered a peaceful way to die.

 The entire time that M. Valdemar was in this trance he was being questioned and was not left alone. Not only that, but being in this state dragged out his illness “an interval of nearly seven months” (72). Yes, maybe your illness would have been more painful if you were conscious, but why would someone want to be alive for that long? Especially since they were not capable of doing anything besides being someone’s lab rat. That is the kind of memory that you would want to leave behind for your loved ones to remember you by. Yes, being in this kind of state ensured you that you would die and feel pain. It also helps your loved ones to know that you did not suffer, but not everyone is privileged enough to have that kind of death. If you are suffering while you are alive, at least you have your family and friends to comfort you. On the other hand, if that person suffers during a trance no one would be capable of being there for you whether they want to or not.

When someone first finds out that someone they care about just passed away the pain is going to be unimaginable, but the memories you leave behind will help them remember you for who you were. The last memory you leave for your loved ones is very important. It should not be like the kind of memory that Poe left for the family of M. Valdemar. Nobody should be remembered in a hypnotic state where they do not even know who or what they are anymore. Everyone should be remembered in a good manner, because it will let their family and friends be able to think of the happy memories that they had with you. Then maybe one day they will no longer be as sad as they were before. Time will never take away all of the pain, but it does make it hurt less. The good memories will bring them joy, but at the same time bring them sadness because they will always wish that you were still around. They are never going to be content with the amount of time they had with you, so try to leave as many good memories as you can behind. You will always be in the back of their mind thinking about every moment they had with you. The more memories you leave behind the easier it will be for them to ease their pain.