“The
Premature Burial”
By,
Edgar Allan Poe
1884
Poe begins his story by setting an eerie ominous tone, one by one describing different cases where one has been pronounced dead due to catalepsy. A common condition in Poe’s era whose symptoms were extremely physical to death. I do in fact think this is a legitimate medical condition because it’s not the first time I’ve heard of it and the indicators described seem very plausible. Consequently with the lack of medical technology the victims of Catalepsy did die since they couldn’t get out of the coffin or tomb. Once society realized that there was a possibility of being buried alive it caused a frenzy and many citizens created ways to prevent “The Premature Burial”. The narrator himself was engrossed on the idea of becoming a victim to this phenomenon since he himself suffered from Catalepsy and since his episodes were irregular no one knew if he was actually deceased or in a trance like state. I feel like I would be just as paranoid if I suffered from this condition, realizing how easy it is to be pronounced dead and wake up in a coffin a few hours later is absolutely terrifying. I wouldn’t want to waste my entire life with the anxiety of being buried alive but I don’t know how I would overcome it. The narrator overcomes his fear by basically facing it when he wakes up in that dark corner of the boat and thinks he has been buried alive. I think it was ironic but I think facing what he thought would kill him puts his whole life in perspective.
1884
Poe begins his story by setting an eerie ominous tone, one by one describing different cases where one has been pronounced dead due to catalepsy. A common condition in Poe’s era whose symptoms were extremely physical to death. I do in fact think this is a legitimate medical condition because it’s not the first time I’ve heard of it and the indicators described seem very plausible. Consequently with the lack of medical technology the victims of Catalepsy did die since they couldn’t get out of the coffin or tomb. Once society realized that there was a possibility of being buried alive it caused a frenzy and many citizens created ways to prevent “The Premature Burial”. The narrator himself was engrossed on the idea of becoming a victim to this phenomenon since he himself suffered from Catalepsy and since his episodes were irregular no one knew if he was actually deceased or in a trance like state. I feel like I would be just as paranoid if I suffered from this condition, realizing how easy it is to be pronounced dead and wake up in a coffin a few hours later is absolutely terrifying. I wouldn’t want to waste my entire life with the anxiety of being buried alive but I don’t know how I would overcome it. The narrator overcomes his fear by basically facing it when he wakes up in that dark corner of the boat and thinks he has been buried alive. I think it was ironic but I think facing what he thought would kill him puts his whole life in perspective.
1902
I was stoked to re-read W.W Jacob’s “The Monkey’s Paw” because it brought me back to my elementary schools. This story was one of the first stories I ever read that lead me into the supernatural/horror genre. It wasn’t sugarcoated like your typical elementary school stories but gave that element of unnerving terror without vulgarity or anything to gruesome for a fifth grader. This story left just enough for one’s imagination while providing basic lessons throughout the short story. The biggest clue that “The Monkey’s Paw” is supernatural is the fact that there is a magical paw that can grant wishes, with guidelines of course. But, like any other horror story the main characters choose to ignore the warnings and proceed with greed. The first wish could be perceived as coincidence rather than supernatural but how would you explain the sudden knocking for the second wish? And then the simultaneous disappearance as soon as the wife opened the door while the father wished his son was dead once again? I think the reader can create a non-supernatural explanation if he or she really wanted to but all signs point to paranormal. The family finally learns the valuable lesson we all know as “Be careful what you wish for” once they are rich but at the priceless cost of losing their son. Was it worth it?
That is awesome that you read this story in elementary I would of loved to have been able to read that when I was younger because I enjoy horror stories especially when I was younger and yes the question in the story is "was it worth it" and I don't think it was especially to lose your son to basically some greedy way of wishing for something you do not know what consequences come with it.
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