Poe Contrasted with SocietyEdgar Allan Poe's writing style can be compared and contrasted with modern society in several ways. For example, "Ed" often wrote about psychopathic (or psychotic) killers who buried people in walls, as in "The Cask of Amontillado" (1) and "The Black Cat" (2). You can learn more about these kinds of things happening today by reading the daily newspaper. But Poe's style can also be contrasted with today's society. It's not very often that a crow or any other bird for that matter comes into a man's room and says only one word to him before going and sitting on a bust above his door (3). But chances are Poe didn't want this poem he wrote to be taken literally. At least you wouldn't think he meant it to be taken that way. You can never be too sure when you're dealing with a man who married his fourteen-year-old cousin. But that's not the point. The fact is that even though times and landscapes have changed, Poe's works can still relate to today's society. One of the ways Poe's works can relate to today's society is his depiction of characters. An example of this can be found in Poe's short story "The Black Cat."(2) In this story, the narrator begins by remembering a time when he was considered a "normal" person. Little by little, due to his alcoholism, he becomes less concerned about those around him, more irritable, more sullen. Just as he described many years ago, people today, like the narrator of the story, drink alcohol and become irrational in their thoughts and actions. Finally, when the narrator tries to kill his cat, his wife stops him and he buries an ax in her head. Fortunately, we don't often hear about this type of murder. But people... middle of paper ... people live in dark castles with the wind whistling through the cracks in the walls and around the windows. The fact is that the setting of some of Ed's works differs from the times and places most people are familiar with today. Given everything that is now known, we can see that there are many similarities and dissimilarities between the writing style of Edgar Allan Poe and the society of today's world. That's a pretty vague way of putting it, but it's true. A major similarity is the fact that the people Poe writes about actually exist, although there aren't particularly many of them, depending on how you look at it. One difference is the decor. The world is not as dark as Poe makes it out to be. However, one cannot tell a person whether or not Poe's works are more similar to today's society. You have to decide that for yourself.