Poe's Exploration Of The Right Brain Analysis

One of the techniques used by Poe was the discovery and exploration of the Right Brain. Poe was an avid follower and believer in Phrenology, although it was studied very little in his time. Poe did not directly discover this part of the brain, but he would still describe it in great detail. He saw it as the exotic part of the mind. What he described as the exotic part of the mind is now officially called the right hemisphere of the brain. He believed this part of the brain dealt with emotion and imagery. This part of the brain manifested itself in dreams and the subconscious according to Poe. An example of his discovery of this can be found in "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket." In this story he describes a journey into the brain. Through this journey, the narrator discovers a unique part of the brain. Two important parts of daily life cannot be found in this exotic part of the brain, language and time. It is now known that the left part of the brain deals with these types of functions. Also, although Pym, the narrator, can 't understand language he …show more content…
He created his characters to have problems within themselves. This was meant to help show people the moral evils in what was believed at that time. He did allow his characters to have any healthy and fulfilling relationships. His protagonists were often left to live in an individualistic void. This led them to lose themselves. They could only rely on themselves. When Poe used a first-person narrator in stories, they would act as reporters. This left plenty of room for subjective opinions. In "The Fall of the House of Usher," the personal symptoms of the narrator changed the reader 's view on the story. He could only wear certain clothes, some odors were unbearable and his eyes were bothered by light. Those are examples of the narrator having flaws, which would lead to a changed report on the story (Barbour;