Question

In a well-developed paragraph analyze Poe’s theme in "The Premature Burial." Your paragraph should state the theme in one sentence. What specific story elements (plot, setting, characters, or conflict) are essential in developing the theme? Be sure you use specifics from the text that you noted in your reading journal in writing your response.

Answer 1

The main theme that Poe develops in this text is the way that fear can play with the human mind, and affect us to an extremely deeply level. In this story, the narrator is terrified about being buried alive. This fear paralyzes him, and makes him unable to live his life fully. The theme is developed through several devices that Poe employs. For example, Poe uses a terrifying setting, anxious characters and a slow plot in order to increase the sense of fear and mystery of the story.