          In The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, the narrator, P—, claims to be a physician with an exquisite interest in mesmerism. In great detail, he recalls an experience with a dying subject named M. Valdemar. P— explains that Valdemar permitted him to place Valdemar in a trance at the exact time of his death, with a team of physicians. This action is done successfully and it surprisingly holds Valdemar in a state that P— finds difficult to describe. In general, Valdemar’s state shares adjectives describing both the state of death and the state of life. Throughout the experience, Valdemar is still somehow able to breath and speak, although seldom. 

          The hypnotic trance holds Valdemar in this state for over seven months. Before this period, numerous questions are asked of Valdemar by P—. All are met with a response (after minutes of silence) in what seems to be Valdemar’s voice, all except when P— asks “M. Valdemar, do you still sleep?”(Poe 70) for the second time. P— goes into a large amount of effort trying to describe this voice to the reader, along with the physical changes of Valdemar:

While I spoke, there came a marked change over the countenance of the sleep-waker. 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. I use this expression, because the suddenness of their departure put me in mind of nothing so much as the extinguishment of a candle by a puff of the breath. The upper lip, at the same time, writhed itself away from the teeth, which it had previously covered completely; while the lower jaw fell with an audible jerk, leaving the mouth widely extended, and disclosing in full view the swollen and blackened tongue. (Poe 70-71) 

          P— describes the voice itself with a number of adjectives, including unearthly, harsh, distant, broken, hollow, and articulate. He understands that much of his descriptions will be very hard for readers to believe or even understand. The words in which ‘Valdemar’ clearly articulates are as follows:

"Yes;—no;—I have been sleeping—and now—now—I am dead” (Poe 71).

          P— uses italics to describe emphasis in the voice. He even describes the sound as one unlike anything mankind has ever heard. From what P— describes, one can derive the impression that this voice is that of Death or The Devil. This can be concluded because the voice is much unlike the voice in Valdemar’s other responses. This voice also has a strong impact on its witnesses, even causing the student in the room to fall unconscious. Had the voice been anything similar to that of Valdemar’s previous responses, it wouldn’t have had such an impact. Even the narrator, who seems to have a very composed constitution, is astonished by the influence this voice has on him. Many of the P—‘s descriptions infer that Valdemar’s body is somehow possessed by something, the personification of Death, The Devil, or an entirely different entity. 

          After the entity speaks, P— decides not to describe his impressions of the voice: “My own impressions I would not pretend to render intelligible to the reader” (Poe 71). It is possible that P— thought that the voice was not that of Valdemar’s, but decided not to proclaim it; he wanted to uphold his professionalism. But, even for someone with such an objective recollection of these events, it is difficult to describe them without some form of emphasis. One can only imagine the tension and astonishment in these events when even a professional physician feels that he must use emphasis and delay in his descriptions in order to accurately depict what actually happened. 

          P— says that Valdemar’s tongue is black. Metaphorically speaking, black represents a strong connotation towards death. Additionally, a tongue represents speech and furthermore, the black tongue is the only thing that moves when ‘Valdemar’ speaks. In a metaphorical sense, one can derive that this symbolizes that Death, or some dark entity, is speaking. One can argue that what the voice says appears as something only Valdemar or his soul would say, that the ‘I’ could represent nothing else, but Valdemar. However, the descriptions of the voice do not match those one would use to describe a spirit, even a malevolent one. Also, the voice’s words can be interpreted to mean that Valdemar is officially dead and all that remains is death. 

          During the entire seven-month period, Valdemar’s body is reported to have not changed at all from its alive-dead state. This can make the reader wonder why this entity stays within Valdemar’s body for so long. Surely, it cannot be the spirit of Valdemar, for there is no clear reason that the spirit must stay. The voice was described as unearthly and articulate, perhaps meaning it has a powerful and sentient will and motive. Valdemar shows no sign of life except various signs of possession, either induced by hypnosis, or something else entirely. Note that P—can no longer influence Valdemar’s arm with mesmerism, as he could before, yet an obvious sentient being still resides within Valdemar. 

          Essentially, what does reside within Valdemar is something dark, perhaps something spurred by the meddling of the laws of nature by science and its vices. Perhaps, P— challenged Death himself by attempting to suspend Valdemar’s ultimate demise. Whatever the case, Valdemar’s death may have been suspended, but its resolution was much more definite and absolute.
