The one thing that binds all livings creatures is the idea that no matter what you do, death will always find you. No matter how much to try to delay it, it is inevitable. Poe touches on the idea that if you seek to delay death, the outcome, as in the act of dying, only becomes worse with the amount of time it is delayed. Death is an inescapable truth to every sentient being that walks this earth, and by attempting to delay or fearing this inescapable truth, the effects can only be worsened. 

This theme is at the heart of The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar. The narrator is introduced, only to be identified as P, a mesmerist seeking to run an experiment on death. He does this by attempting to prolong death through mesmerizing someone at the brink of death. Here M. Valdemar comes into the story as a former patient of P and a tuberculosis patient. After talking to M. Valdemar, P is given permission to conduct the experiment and will be notified before the act of death occurs. Shortly after, P is notified and mesmerizes M. Valdemar.  

One of the biggest symbols in the story comes in the form of a large exhale escaping M. Valdemar right before the point of entering the trance. These final breaths are commonly used for the symbolism of the soul leaving the body and moving onto a different state. Right before he enters a state close to that of hypnotism, “a natural although a very deep sigh escaped the bosom of the dying man, and the stertorious breathing ceased” (Poe). The breath in this quote shows that a part of Valdemar left. It could have been his soul or his consciousness, but the main point is an essential part of Valdemar left and now he is mostly a house with no one living inside. This also symbolizes the point at which he should have died, but instead he is being dragged into a sort of limbo or purgatory where he is stuck between life and death. 

This limbo is evident throughout the first two thirds or so of the story when P asks Valdemar, “Do you still feel pain in the breast, M. Valdemar?” (Poe) To which Valdemar responds, “No pain - I am dying.” (Poe) Again, this shows how Valdemar is not necessarily dead yet. In fact, the process of being mesmerized so close to the point of death only made the act of dying last exponentially longer than it was supposed to. These questions continue with Valdemar giving P similar answers showing that the process of death is still running its course while he is sleeping until P asked him again and he responded, “Yes; -no;-I have been sleeping-and now-I am dead.”(Poe) This gives evidence to show that Valdemar has finally passed through the state of limbo between life and death and now is only bound to the material world by his cadaver of a body. 

During these very brief conversations the voice that emanates from Valdemar’s body undergoes changes as time progresses. The first answer Valdemar gives, “Yes; -asleep now. Do not wake me! -let me die so!” is spoken in a “barely audible whisper”. (Poe) The second is described as “even less audible than before”. (Poe) The loss of volume in Valdemar’s speech shows the progress at which he is dying. As time continues throughout the experiment, Valdemar’s voice becomes more and more faint, with the exception of the last exchange between Valdemar and P, showing just how close he was to death at the time of being mesmerized.

Shortly after Valdemar declares himself dead P attempts to see if there is any part of Valdemar left in the shell of a body that remained in the hospital. Once P asks him “what are your feelings or wishes now?” all of the characteristics of even a faint amount of vitality that disappeared when Valdemar proclaimed himself dead reappeared. This gives evidence to argue that a small amount of Valdemar remained in the chains and shackles of his body and when they spoke to him again, he expressed a profound desire to pass on to the next phase of existence or non-existence.  So much so that he seemed to somewhat reenter his body in order to pass the message along. 

The biggest part in the theme of this particular story is that no matter how much death is delayed, it will eventually catch up in ways more gruesome and violent than if it were to just run its course. This is illustrated at the very end of the story when P takes Valdemar out of a state of being mesmerized. After Valdemar partially returns to his body, he exclaims “For God’s sake! -quick!-quick!-put me to sleep-or, quick!-waken me!-quick!-I say to you that I am dead!”(Poe) P and the rest of the room expect Valdemar to wake up and be in the condition he was in right before death, but when they attempted to awaken him he screamed, “dead! dead!”(Poe) Also, it’s worth noting that Valdemar was described as “the sufferer” when they were bringing him back from the trance because it illustrates how the theme of prolonging death can end up causing that person to suffer more than if they were just to slip peacefully into the hands of death. This is also illustrated when Valdemar comes completely out of the trance “his whole frame at once-within the space of a single minute, or even less, shrunk-crumbled-absolutely rotted away beneath my hands.” (Poe) This shows how prolonging death can not only cause the person dying immense amounts of pain, but also make the act of death much more gruesome. 

 Death is not something that can be avoided no matter what type of organism, or lifeform is being discussed. The main theme of The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar illustrates how death is not a force to be reckoned with. Patients with debilitating diseases only increase the amount of pain and suffering they experience with the amount of time they continue plunging deeper and deeper into their specific disease. If we prolong it, or refuse to accept this inescapable truth we can only worsen the effects of death itself. 
