Hey guys, so just checking in to report on class today. Well just as we settled in to discuss The Raven, the fire bell rang and so we all had a pleasant outing into nature. Anyway, when we returned to class we got a start on analyzing the raven. Deirdre shared that Lenore, the name of the narrarator's lost love, means "light". The story told in The Raven takes place at midnight, signifying darkness. It seems that for the narrarator the "light of his life has gone out".
In our discussion the word "creepy" also came up regularly haha. While some believed the raven's eerie repetitive response was the main cause for "creepiness"? Mr. Lazarow shared his thoughts that what bothered him most was the narrarator torturing himself with his grief over his dead loved one. The narrarator seemed to be deranged by his grief. As Mr. Laz said, it seems that he was aware that the raven would always give the same response and so he molded his questions appropriately to ones that would twist his grief stricken heart.
The dark contrast of the black raven against the white pallid bust of Pallas a contrast similiar to that of emotion to reason. The bust and the library/study symbolize a tendency towards the neoclassic age of reason and logic while the Raven represents nature and emotion. The raven bursts in from the wild storm outside to intrude upon the narrarators thoughts. The scene is set up realistically as the narrarator is at first bemused by the chaotic entrance of the bird but then because he has failed to find solace in classical writings he decides instead to face his pain by having a conversation with the bird. His masochist tendencies make the focus of the story again on the psychological games a person is capable of playing.
At the end of the story the narrarator tries to rid himself of the Raven but he can never rid himself of the pain of losing his loved one. The spectre of his grief, the raven, will never leave him.
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