Edgar Allan Poe is considered as the “Father of Detective Story”, his obsession for writing using common themes gives his readers an idea of what to expect while reading his literature.  It is known that when writing, authors will focus on areas that are of personal interest. Common themes used in Poe’s writing includes love v hate, alcoholism, life v death, man v self and obsession. These themes are present in Poe’s short stories “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Masque of the Red Death” and “The Black Cat”. Poe has lost some of the closest people in his life and this is portrayed in his works by focusing on the theme of death v life, in these short stories he shows that although you love someone death is inevitable. In the “The Masque of the Red Death”, he wrote “he had come like a thief in the night”, at this point of the story he was making reference to the red death. Just like his own life, Poe was not able to tell when these individuals would die although knowing that death would one day come. It may be assumed that he did not handle the death of his close family and friends well, hence, it affected him psychologically and this is portrayed in both “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Black Cat”. Just like the character in “The Black Cat”, Poe drowned himself in alcohol to avoid dealing with the issues that are present in his life; “I again plunged into excess, and soon drowned in wine all the memory of the deed”. When he drinks he is able to numb his feelings, hence, not having to deal with them. Even the idea of burying his guilt or conscience is evident when in “The Tell-Tale Heart” he buried the old man under the floor and in “The Black Cat” he buried his wife, after committing murder he hides the evidence which can be said that in his own life after being faced with something drastic instead of dealing with it he pushes it aside; by not dealing with the issue it then affects him psychologically.

In the both the “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Masque of the Red Death” Poe describes the narrator as being “sagacious” which is ironic because both these individuals did not make good decisions in the situations presented to them. He used these narrators to justify his own life, thinking that he makes the best decisions however the outcome shows otherwise (being an alcoholic).

 I Will Never Leave You

“Mam, are you okay? Are you hurt?” the police asked in a concerned voice.

“I’m okay, my head hurts a little but I will be fine” I replied.

“Where do you live?” inquires the officer.

“I can’t remember” I said in a bewildered voice.

“Well, I will keep you over night at the station and maybe tomorrow you can tell me what happened” replies the officer.

I woke up feeling exhausted and I also had a terrible migraine. The officer gave me breakfast and something to help with the pain. After eating he asked me to recall what happened the night before. I placed my hands in my jacket pocket as I normally do when I’m thinking; I found some items that were from the night before.

My friend, Karen and I went to the theater to watch the new Taken movie that was released, “Taken 3”. We have been waiting weeks for it to come out and it final did. “So that explains why you have the movie ticket, but what about the other four items” says the officer. “I’m getting there” I replied. Upon arriving at the theater we sat next to this really cute guy by the name of Andre, we started talking and we hit it off, by the end of the movie all three of us were laughing and having a great time. After the movie was finished we decided to take pictures in the photo booth that was in the theater, hence the reason for these photos. Andre then invited us to meet up with some of his friends, I was very hesitant because we did not know him well enough to be going places with him; however, Karen insisted. We went to a party that one of his friends were hosting; the place was overcrowded and I started regretting my decision for going.

I started feeling uncomfortable as his friends started to smoke and drink so Andre told me that it was probably best for me to step outside, so I did and he accompanied me. We sat on the stairs and was talking for close to an hour, during this time I realized that we have a lot in common, we shared the same likes and dislikes; by this time I was falling for him. One of his friends came out, the guy was drunk to the point where he could hardly stand; he started messing around and he pulled me by hand and said “I like her, she is coming home with me”, as he laughed. I pulled my arm from away where my feet slipped from the stairs that I was on and I fell and bumped my head. “So that probably explains the bloody tissues” recalls the officer. I was not able to move my body but I was still aware of what was going on; I could hear Andre’s friend asking “why isn’t she moving?” Andre shouted to his friend, “what did you do?” he picked me up, took me inside and laid me on the couch. I could hear him telling his friends to call the police and get an ice pack. After placing the ice pack on my head one of his friends pulled him away and said “we have to go before the cops arrive”, “I can’t just leave her here” replied Andre; “the cops will think you did something to her and arrest you” his friend tried to persuade him. I felt his presence over me, he bend and whispered in my ear, “I’m so sorry”.

Shortly, after they left I started gaining control of my body again, I was able to move my hands and then feet. By the time I got full control of body you had arrived. It seems the bump that I got on my head might have caused me to have a slight memory loss and that is why I was not able to tell you where I lived. Here is my phone, the battery is dead so it is no use, it was already dead when I got to the theater and Andre had to give me his number on a piece of paper, so that explains the phone and piece of paper. “You mentioned you were with your friend, Karen, where was she when this was happening?” asked the officer, however, I was not able to answer, there were still some things that was unclear to me, “Maybe she left before it happened” I replied.

“Mom! I need you” says Ryan, and that is when I realized I was only dreaming. “That is a very entertaining dream, but I want to know why do I have to be the bad guy? You know I would never leave you” replied my husband Andre has he kissed my forehead after I had just recapped the events of a dream that I had the night before.