Symbolism in the Raven

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Symbolism in “The Raven” Edgar Allan Poe is considered to be the father of the short story by many. Over the course of his life, he wrote hundreds of short stories and poems. His writing style is unique and influenced by the tragedies that occurred over the course of his life. In fact, he is most well-known for writing morbid stories and gloomy poems. Poets can use many different devices to get their point across. Symbolism is a critical element in a great deal of literature that is used especially when trying to analyze and interpret the meaning of that work. In the poem “The Raven” Edgar Allen Poe uses symbolism conveyed through characters and different settings to portray the mental turmoil of the narrator. “The Raven” is a story about a lonely man, the narrator, whose missing his deceased wife Lenore. He begins to enter a stage of mental and emotional insanity and instability. The narrator gives no description of Lenore. Poe gives no description what she looks like or what exactly the relationship between Lenore and the narrator is. All that is known is that the narrator truly misses her. The lack of details about Lenore makes her a likely symbol. She may represent idealized love, beauty, truth, or hope in a better world. She is "rare and radiant" we are told several times, an angelic description, maybe symbolic of heaven. In the poem, Poe writes “Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn, It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore.” This is maybe the most hopeful, but also the gloomiest moment in the poem. For a second the speaker allows himself the dream of a reunion with Lenore in Aidenn, which can be interpreted as Heaven. For that instant he sees a supernatural solution to his problems. But throughout the poem he is asking the bird about this possibility, and the bird says only one thing, "Nevermore." Another
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