Comparing Herman Melville And Edgar Allan Poe

What are the similarities and differences between Herman Melville and Edgar Allan Poe? Both Herman Melville and Edgar Allan Poe lived a hard, and sometimes unpleasant lives. Both, Herman Melville and Edgar Allan Poe, lives resemble each other all the way from the start of their life continued until the day of their final breath. Countless strange and even abnormal events continued throughout both of their lives. Herman Melville and Edgar Allan Poe were both born around the same time; about ten years separates them. Melville and Poe were both born into poverty, and both future authors had their own troubles to worry about. Edgar Allen Poe’s parents past away when he was just a child, and Melville’s parents failed business ventures brought a great distress to his family; eventually …show more content…
Poe’s foster father paid for his education, and eventually Poe dropped out of West Point Academy. Which would eventually lead to him moving to Baltimore, Maryland. Although Melville did receive a formal education he learned a vast amount of his knowledge from his sailing adventures he went on while he was a child. Melville never looked back after sailing out on adventures. He stayed and lived for a period of time on one of the islands called Nuku Hiva. This is around the time in both authors lives that their minds really began to become twisted. Edgar Allan Poe for instance when he moved to Baltimore he ended up marrying his wife Virginia; who also turned out to be his very own cousin. Although not only was she his cousin, but she was also just fourteen years old. For Melville he ended up sailing to an island on one of his many adventures, and lived on this very island for awhile. This was no ordinary island; the natives on this island believed in cannibalism. There is no written proof that Melville took any part of these native traditions, but still living with cannibals is a wee bit