Throughout “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” by Edgar Allen Poe, the narrator attempts to establish a divide between body and mind as he hypnotizes his subject at the fringes of his demise. And in his endeavors to construct a suspension between life and death, he outlines his situation in an exceptionally scientific manner. This notion, in turn, creates a sense of realism that is offset by the inevitable presence of pseudoscience. The narrator also pairs his own written descriptions with the dialogue of M. Valdemar in order to generate a comprehensive report of his pseudoscientific experiment. Valdemar’s moments of speech are short and virtually invariable; yet, the narrator is thorough in embracing these instances at each significant stage in his experiment. Thus, by analyzing Valdemar’s quotations for both word choice and structure, we see a growing divide between life and demise, which is important as it contributes to the story’s overall theme—that death is unescapable.

“I give the facts—as far as I comprehend them myself (66),” stated the narrator as he tried to explain the nature of his research. Here, he confirmed that he too does not have an explanation for all of the affairs that occurred during the course of his experiment. Thus, this was the first statement said by the narrator in which established the sense of terror that was carried throughout the entirety of the short story. The formation of this sense of dread was significant

as the reader was often left with only a partial understanding of certain events; in which gave the narrator a chance to further mold the reader’s emotions. For example, in the progressive timeline of each instance where M. Valdemar spoke, the facts behind this anomaly became gradually more incoherent. And this incoherence is precisely the mechanism that set the story’s mood and introduced terror into the reader. Throughout the tale, Valdemar continued to communicate despite the ongoing outward deterioration of his body. In the first occurrence, Valdemar’s response is fairly warranted as he uttered, “Yes; asleep now. Do not wake me! —let me die so (70).” Here, Valdemar’s “general appearance was certainly not that of death (70),” and therefore the occasion is not completely unjustifiable. Yet, the sense of dread lingered as the reader was provided with a sampling of the perplexing moments that were to come. In developing events, Valdemar verbalized, “No pain—I am dying (70),” and shortly after, “Yes; still asleep—dying (70).” At this point, Valdemar’s health had continued to decline and thus, his response came as more a surprise to both the physicians and perhaps the reader. This occurrence is where the rationale regarding the deviation of the mind and body truly began to raise questions whilst instilling fear. And as the experiment continued it is outlined that, “there was no longer that faintest sign of vitality in M. Valdermar (71) …” Therefore, any vocal response or movement of the subject’s body would have surely been unwarranted as there would have been no conceivable justification for such. However, Valdemar then continued on to utter twelve simple words in response to the narrator, “Yes; —no; —I have been sleeping—and now—now—I am dead (71);” and at that moment, the report’s sense of realism is falsified. There, the reader was left with a sense of bewilderment and horror as M. Valdemar’s quotations continued to build towards the story’s dramatic conclusion. Furthermore, in Valdemar’s final and most noteworthy instant of communication he stated, “For God’s sake!—quick!—quick!—put me to sleep—or, quick!—waken me!—quick!—I say to you that I am dead! Dead (73)!” The significance of this quote, though, is notable both because of the event that followed—the immediate liquefying of M. Valdemar’s body—and its contribution to the story’s foremost theme. Death is inevitable and any attempts to impose power over death ultimately prove unsuccessful, as outlined by the story’s closing moments. The final lines manage to combine shock, horror, and repugnance all into the final moments of short story. And both the interaction and rapid deterioration of Valdemar provided for a dramatic conclusion to the pseudoscientific elements of the experiment. 

The general purpose of the narrative was to outline the narrator’s efforts in avoiding death on account of hypnosis; nevertheless, the final transformation of Valdemar’s body was in the end more forceful than his natural death would have been by Tuberculosis. Thus, this concept contributed to the overall theme of the short story as the narrator’s attempts at the postponement of death merely lead to an increase in its intensity. Despite the narrator’s attempts to prologue life, death is at last unavoidable. And the ending further insinuates that endeavors to impose authority over death are destined to prove unsuccessful and yield hideous outcomes.Furthermore, attributing to the parallels in M. Valdemar’s dialogue, he spoke of death in some form each time that he communicated. However, as the story continued, it could be noted that the references to death transitioned from ‘die,’ to ‘dying,’ to ‘dead.’ This evolution in speech could then reflect his gradual decline in health as the story progressed. In addition, this notion adds to the overall ideal of the narrator outlining Valdemar’s condition up to his demise. Thus, not only is it evident that M. Valdemar is externally declining on account of the narrator’s reports, but the reader is also informed that he is internally deteriorating based the progression of his speech. 

There is fear in uncertainty and as M. Valdemar continues to speak despite the waning of his outward appearance, the puzzlement and terror arise. The narrator’s written descriptions in conjunction with the dialogue of Valdemar creates an inclusive account of the ongoing experiment. And with specific focus on the narrator’s use of Valdemar’s moments of communication, it is highlighted that Valdemar himself outlines his demise. Therefore, it is evident that the narrator embraces these instances as they provide contributions in displaying the short story’s overall theme—that death is inevitable. Throughout the entirety of the experiment, the narrator attempts to evade death through mesmerism; however, Valdemar’s few instances of speech show that he instead continued to decline throughout the experiment, despite the narrator’s efforts. 
