My essay on Edgar Allan Poe

by Colleen
(Fresno, Ca USA)

The death of Edgar Allan Poe is one of the greatest mysteries of the authors of the past and the authors yet to come. There are many different theory’s on how this man died, but there can only be one solution. I believe a lot of the stories may hold some form of truth, so my conclusion is that a lot of the events that lead up to this man’s decent came into play. The Whig party probably started the night off for Edgar, and the doctors at Washington University hospital probably finished the job. All of these coming into play with his history of drinking and possible wounds to the heart area suggest foul play. I do not think his death was entirely the intention of the people involved but had a great role in it
At the start of the night I believe Edgar was drugged and dragged into coops by the Whig party. Where he was possible beaten and drugged until he was no longer coherent. The Whig party would have used Edgar as a ballet stuffer, and knowing he would be recognized they were constantly switching his appearance. I’m sure they thought if Poe was recognized people would just think he might be on one of his drinking binges. Since the Whig party had so many people working for them I think they would have gotten word that Poe was spotted, and they might have. This leads me to the conclusion that they threw him out on the street when he was no longer coherent enough to vote. With Edgar’s past drinking history and possible medical problems abuse like this would definitely injure Poe if not kill him. This is the only theory that explains why Poe was in someone else’s cloths.
When Poe arrived at the Washington University Hospital he was treated by Dr. Moran. Stories say Moran was friends with some of Poe’s greatest rivals. To my knowledge if the Whig party thought they were at risk by Poe talking about the experience he had. It is possible they made a deal with Dr. Moran or even one of the nurses attending to Edgars needs. No matter how it came about Dr. Moran had the means and motive to end Poe’s life. Maybe not with his bare hands or poison, he may have just neglected to take care of him, which would explain the lack of medical records. When the Dr. changed his stories some many times it appears he was told what he needed to say and mixed up the truth with the lies he was directed to say.

With all of this to say and the evidence of Poe’s medical history that could have taken place here. After being beaten and possibly drugged then neglected I’m sure Edgar’s heart or brain could not handle any more stress. Edgar does have a history of alcohol abuse which would weaken him heart to almost the point where it could fail under any level of stress. There is said to be a scar right at Edgars heart as well which he probably got in combat that could have affected the strength of it. Dr Mott and Mrs. Shew the care takers of Virginia believe that Edgar might have been experiencing lesions of the brain and may have also been having brain fever. So as you can see Edgar was already not in very good health with death surrounding this man’s whole life he just could not take anymore.
So after reviewing all the theory’s I have come up with one of my own which is a mixture of most of them. I do believe he was kept in coops and his clothing was changed and was left on the side of the road as if he was disposed of like a piece of trash. Then he was taken to a hospital, which obviously did not care enough about him to even keep any records of his stay there. Who knows what kind of care he got from the staff there since no one was able to visit him, even after it was said that he was getting better. This is just my theory but with the way Edgar Allan Poe was treated in his last few days of life I am sure it would have killed anyone.