          In The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, the narrator, P—, claims to be a physician with an exquisite interest in mesmerism. In 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 accomplished and 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 Valdemar’s voice, all except when P— asks “M. Valdemar, do you still sleep?” (Poe 70) for the second time. P— goes into great effort to describe the physical changes that Valdemar incurs:

          “…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.” (Poe 71)

          This particular change is one that P— seems to have difficulty describing. He is aware that the events that took place are not events that he can explain. All he can do is document these events from an objective point of view. This fact bothers P— because his professional reputation relies on his ability to both document and diagnose. What this means is that these occurrences are so inconceivable that they could be considered supernatural. No other explanation exists for such an incident, for it baffles those who are experts in the field of observation. P— describes the voice itself with several adjectives, including unearthly, harsh, distant, broken, hollow, and articulate. He uses these adjectives diligently, for he understands that his descriptions will be very difficult 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 hypothesize that this voice is that of Death or The Devil. Evidence to support this theory may include the fact that this voice has a very different tone than the responses from before, or so P— claims. This voice also has a strong impact on its witnesses, even causing the student in the room to lose consciousness. If this voice shared traits with Valdemar’s previous responses, it wouldn’t nearly have 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 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 very possible that P— suspects 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 and delay. 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 to accurately depict the events that transpired.

          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, this voice cannot be the spirit of Valdemar, for his spirit has no clear reason to sojourn. 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.
