How Did Edgar Allan Poe Influence His Work?

Edgar Allan Poe was one of the greatest writers and poets of antebellum America, was born a month before the 16th President, Abraham Lincoln. This often mysterious man lived a short, hard life he was orphaned at the age of three, impoverished most of his life and died at the age of forty. Writing styles are often influenced by the author's life, his was no exception. The struggles in Edgar Allan Poe's life greatly influenced the writing style of this great American writer of many great works such as The Black Cat and Tell-Tale Heart. Poe’s early life was difficult, his father left shortly after he was born, and his mother died when he was just three1. Being so young without parents, Edgar Poe was adopted by the Allan family, taking their last name as his middle name. As Poe grew up he bonded with Mrs. Allan but never agreed with Mr. John Allan1. This perpetual disagreement led to money troubles for Poe when he wanted to go to college, John Allen would not lend him enough money to complete his studies at the University of Virginia. Edgar had been interested in writing most of his life he published his first poem book, Tamerlane and Other Poems, at the age of 18. During this time he began studying at West Point, he was kicked out after only a year for failure to complete his duties during his time at the military academy he cut ties
His most well know works showcased his depression, in both The Tell Tale Heart and The Black Cat he showed how his sadness had driven him to insanity. In both these stories, the unnamed narrator, Poe says that he has an unexplainable hatred toward something in The Tell Tale Heart he when contemplating why he wanted the old man dead he stated “He had the eye of a vulture -- a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold” this shows that the narrator is not mentally stable as he wants to kill a man just because of the way his eye