Reflection #2

Title of Short Story: The Angel Of The Odd

Author: Edgar Allan Poe

1) The protagonist is Edgar Allan Poe himself once again. His desire in this story seems to be the desire of alcohol. Some character notes that are important are that he seems to be so drunk he gets a visit from an "angel" representing the drunk version of himself.

2) There isn't an antagonist, this story is Edgar vs. himself again. The conflict for Edgar here is fighting against his addiction to drinking and his habit of constantly getting drunk. Edgar Allan Poe was known for his love of alcohol. It was always a problem for him and it seems that here in this story he realizes how much bad it's doing to him but he doesn't want to believe it's a problem, so he denies it's existence making it seem like the real problem are those who judge his drinking.

3) The themes of this story are drinking and denial. Edgar has an alcohol problem and refuses to accept that it is an actual problem. The techniques used to develop this story is characterization and conflict against oneself. A lot of alcoholics, when told they have a problem, or realize they do, tend to deny it constantly and feel the world is going against them for no reason. They usually don't change until they accept it's an actual problem that's doing harm to them.

4) In the story, Edgar speaks of an "odd angel" approaching him and talking in drunk manners. His tone becomes annoyed and he acts as if the angel is the one with the actual problem when in reality it's him. The techniques that help develop this tone are conflict and mood.

5) The crisis action in this story is when Edgar gets to a point that he can't take the angel's talk anymore, he throws a salt-cellar towards it's head, missing and hitting a clock instead. Edgar doesn't get what he wants; which was mainly to prove he didn't have a problem but instead showed he actually did have a problem since he got angry at the angel and his drunkard talk. Edgar realizes he has a drinking problem and finally accepts it. He admits he's an alcoholic drunk who can't seem to control himself when drinking and needs to have a limit before he ends up hurting himself.

6) What I enjoyed about this story is that Edgar took a new way of interpreting his message, which was by drunk conversation, making this a comedic story. It helps the reader imagine it while reading along. What I also enjoyed was how he made this story seem like it was an awakening for himself towards his drinking problem. An angel visited him and showed him his true self when drunk. He didn't want to believe it, denied it completely, and wanted the angel to leave him alone already. He eventually lost anger; "This language was rather more than I could bear, even from an angel; so, plucking up courage, I seized a salt-cellar which lay within reach, and hurled it at the head of the intruder. Either he dodged, however, or my aim was inaccurate, for all I accomplished was the demolition of the crystal which protected the dial of the clock upon the mantel piece." This showed that he was being broken down and although he denied it all, his anger showed that it was all true. He had an alcohol problem and it wasn't going away with him not accepting the fact it was real. Edgar did a great job with showing how people act with actual problems like alcoholism and how one's own mind can mess with them.