Edgar Allan Poe Biography

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Edgar Allen Poe was born in Boston on January 19.1890. His family consisted of his parents, who were traveling actors, his brother, William Henry Leonard Poe and his sister, Rosalie Poe. Edgar’s parents, however, died when he was only three years old. Edgar’s siblings were then split up to live with other family members, but a wealthy tobacco merchant, John Allan, and his wife, Frances Valentine Allan, took in Edgar and raised them as their own. Poe was raised in Richmond, Virginia and had dreams of becoming a writer, although John preferred he be a businessman. In 1862 Poe began attending the University of Virginia. Although Poe excelled in his classes, he soon found himself with a considerable amount of debt. To pay for his school Poe began to gamble, only to find that he was in even more finical trouble. Poe returned to Richmond due to the fact that he was so poor. Upon his return he found his fiancée had moved on and was engaged to another man while he was away to college. Hearth broken and angry, Poe only spent a few months in the Allan mansion before leaving to find adventure. By the time he was eighteen Poe published his first book, Tamerlane, and soon after enlisted in the United Stated Army. Two years later he found out Frances was dying of tuberculosis. She was the only mother Poe had ever known, so Poe returned to Richmond when he had heard her request to see him before she passed. By the time he made it back Frances had already been buried. During his time home Poe and Allen worked on their relationship, and Allen was able to help Poe get an appointment to the United Stated Military Academy at West Point. Before leaving for West Point Poe published another book of poetry. Poe only attended West Point for a short e... ... middle of paper ... ...y toes. I was very intrigued and want to keep reading because I wasn’t sure what the character was going to do- kill the old man, or get caught in the process. Once the old man died I couldn’t believe what happened next. The fact that he chopped up the old man’s body to hide that he murdered someone, in real life, my seem morbid, but it makes for a good story. I also thought it was interesting how Poe was really able to show the readers how paranoid his character was. When I finished reading the story and I didn’t have questions about what happened or why it did. I could easily read along and understand that the character didn’t like the old man because of his “evil eye.” In the end this character gave himself up to the police because he was so paranoid. I thought this was an interesting turn of events because the entire time I thought he would get away with murder.

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