Blog #5

Edgar Allan Poe

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Edgar Allan Poe? If you are like me, and most likely the majority of other people, you think of a weirdo, freak or crazy person. I mean, the man must have been mentally disturbed in some for or fashion to write some of the things he did right? Maybe, just as our book suggests, we owe his bad reputation to Rufus Griswold's smear campaign. However, it also states that Poe spread some rumors himself, which may have cast him in an unfavorable light with the public. Why would someone want to intentionally want to make themselves look bad? Could it have possibly been that Poe wanted people to fear him? Who can say for sure, but it is an interesting topic for discussion. 

In our reading, The Cask of Amontillado, the main character takes his supposed revenge on his foe by burying him alive in the catacomb. Poe's obsession with being buried alive came through in some of his tales, such as this one. As we suggested in class, this fear was not without good cause. 19th century medicine was by no means and exact science and misdiagnosis of death, which could in turn lead to premature burial, was not out of the realm of possibility. Coffins, such as in the picture to the left and in the linked article below, were sold to prevent instances of being buried alive. Coffin Technologies A flag, bell or speaker was used as a signal from below to alert someone above ground that you, in fact, were not dead! This fascination of being buried can be found throughout history on TV shows and in films. An episode of Alfred Hitchcock from 1955 called Breakdown, depicts a man who was involved in a car accident which leaves him paralyzed to the point in which he is believed to be dead. More recently, movies such as Kill Bill vol 2 and Buried have characters who are also buried alive. One interesting tradition, that is relative to this matter, involves the current pope at the time of his death. Traditionally, when a reigning pope died, he was struck on the forehead with a silver hammer. At the same time, his name would be called out three times to confirm that he was indeed dead. According to this article, that tradition has today been replaced with an electrocardiogram to confirm death. A little more accurate, wouldn't you say?