Is the Raven Real or Imagined?
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Is the Raven Real or Imagined?
Introduction
Edgar Allan Poe had a life full of hard times, as demonstrated in the poem through Edgar’s connection with family and friends together with the characters in the poem. Most of Edgar’s poems usually end with a tragedy or disgrace like ‘The Raven” (Bakhsh, 2020). The setting happens at night in an empty house where the narrator is woken up from sleep by some mysterious noise, which he later realizes is a raven at his window (Lehmann et al., 2018). The Raven keeps on croaking ‘Nevermore’ each time the narrator asks it a question (Bakhsh, 2020). However, one may wonder whether the Raven is real or a narrator’s imagination fueled by alcohol or life problems. This essay argues that the Raven in Edgar’s poem is imaginary because; it could have been a dream since the narrator was initially sleeping, birds cannot talk; besides, the bird responds by only uttering ‘Nevermore’ which could be something the author wanted to hear at that moment (Lehmann et al., 2018). The narrator is also seen as crazy since he talks to a mysterious bird at night. The bird could also symbolize his hopes; in this, he hopes the Raven to stay but thinks it will go away like ‘Lenore,’ his female friend who died (Lehmann et al., 2018).
Evidence
The raven could be an image because the narrator says he was asleep when he had some mysterious noise. “Deep into that darkness peering…and echo murmured back the word “Lenore!” (Bakhsh, 2020). “ The narrator heard a knock at his door, however, when he went to open, there was no one. The only thing he heard was “Lenore” which was the name of his lover who had died. Before answering the door, the narrator was sleeping, therefore the whole scenario could have been a dream that seemed real. “While I nodded nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping” (Bakhsh, 2020). The raven seems more imagined than real. The narrator talks to the bird which is unreal. The bird says “nevermore” which could be the words the narrator wants to hear (Lehmann et al., 2018). The narrator is also seen as crazy or mad when talking to a bird and this could have been one of those moments when he was crazy. “Tell me what thy lordly name is on the night’s plutonium shore! Quoth the raven “nevermore” (Lehmann et al., 2018). The raven is also a symbolization of the narrator’s hopes since his hopes have flown before as he narrates (Bakhsh, 2020), so both the bird and his hopes will “fly away”. The bird gives him hopes of “Lenore,” but he knows it will go away like his love, Lenore, and will never come back (Bakhsh, 2020). “Other friends have flown before On the morrow; he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before” (Bakhsh, 2020).
Conclusion
To sum it up, the raven in Edgar’s poem “The Raven” is imaginary because, as discussed, the narrator was initially sleeping when he had a knock on his door; when he went to open the door, he saw nothing; he just heard the word “Lenore” who was his dead lover. This, therefore, shows that he was assuming that he had woken up to open the door, but in the real sense, he was dreaming. It is also evident that the narrator talked to the bird in which birds cannot talk in the reals world. While talking to the bird, it only utters the word “nevermore” this could just have been the words the narrator wanted to hear since he was through a difficult time of losing his lover Lenore. The narrator can also be termed as crazy since a sane person cannot talk to a bird because it cannot talk. Besides, the raven could be a symbolization of the narrator’s hopes, which have flown before. Therefore, the narrator feels the bird will “fly away” and never come back, just like the way Lenore died and let him never come back.
References
Bakhsh, L. F. (2020). A Deconstructive Reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.” Galore International Journal of Applied Sciences and Humanities, 4(2), 19-28.
Lehmann, O. V., Chaudhary, N., Bastos, A. C., & Abbey, E. (Eds.). (, 2018). Poetry and imagined worlds. Springer.