The+Gold+Bug+by+Edgar+Allan+Poe

"The Gold Bug" by Edgar Allen is a short story written in 1843 about three characters who go on a hunt for treasure (Poe,"The Gold"). The story "The Gold Bug" reflects the very definition of Romanticism by the way that the writing "shuns the artificiality of civilization and seeks unspoiled nature", and the way the writing "contemplates nature's beauty as a path to spiritual and moral development" (Langley). Within the story "The Gold Bug," it is also easy to see how Poe's life and the events he was going through at the time he wrote this story inspired the story "The Gold Bug." Finally, when reading the story, the audience can tell how "The Gold Bug" relates to other works of Poe such as "The City in the Sea" and "The Pit and the Pendulum" by the way that Poe starts with a curious tone at the beginning of all three works and then makes it clear to the reader what has truly happened in the story.

There are many ways the the story "The Gold Bug" reflects the very definition of Romanticism. One of these examples, as stated earlier, is how the writing "contemplates nature's beauty as a path to spiritual and moral development, " and also how the work "shuns the artificiality of civilization and seeks unspoiled nature" (Langley). For example, at the end of the story in "The Gold Bug," Poe has the character of Legrand describe how he decrypted the symbols found on the map to find the treasure that the characters have been hunting for. Once decrypted, the map says as follows:

A good glass in the bishop's hostel in the devil's seat forty-one degrees and thirteen minutes northeast and by north main branch seventh limb east side shoot from the left eye of the death's-head a bee line from the tree through the shot fifty feet out (Poe,"The Gold").

From this quote, it is easy to see how the story "The Gold Bug" "contemplates nature's beauty as a path to spiritual and moral development, " and also how the work "shuns the artificiality of civilization and seeks unspoiled nature" by the way the author, Poe, uses nature in the deciphered message to lead the characters to freedom, which in part, shows the rejection of civilization in the society this brief example of Romantic writing (Langley).

When reading the story "The Gold Bug" by Poe. It is quite easy for the reader to see how Poe was influenced by the events in his life that were happening in his life while he was writing "The Gold Bug." Edgar Alan Poe very famous for having a very sad and depressing life. What many do not know is that many of these events that made Poe's life so dim actually happened in the after parts of Poe's life (Barney, Paddock). Sure, Poe experience the death of his mother at a very young age, but after this event up until the writing of "The Gold Bug," Poe's life was pretty normal "The Gold Bug" was written in 1843, which was an earlier time in Poe's life. At this point, Poe was working at an editing business trying to become a successful writer. Since, Poe had not experienced much tragedy in his life, his writing style was not quite as dark in 1832 when he wrote this story (Barney, Paddock). Since Edgar was trying to become a well known writer, he decided to write a short story that made for a quick, yet in-depth and interesting read. He came up with the idea of a treasure story to quick interest of readers. This idea actually worked for Poe as the story became his most popular selling title, but he did not make enough money off of the many sales of the story, keeping him in debt (Barney, Paddock).

Finally, when reading "The Gold Bug," one must tend to notice that this story relates in many ways to some other works of Poe. For example, "The Gold Bug" relates to the two works "The City in the Sea" and the short story, "The Pit and the Pendulum." For example, in "The City in the Sea," Poe begins the poem with a very mysterious tone to leave the reader to wonder in which direction Poe is headed in the work. Poe then goes on to describe the beauty of the sunken city and how it has been eroded with age and with death (Poe,"The City"). This relates to "The Gold Bug" because of how in the story, when Legrand is describing how he found the treasure, the author does not realy know what the code means that the character has found (Poe,"The Gold"). Soon, though, Legrand explains how he substituted commonly used words in place for certain symbols and suddenly, the reader knows why Poe has included this excerpt in the story (Poe,"The Gold"). This is similar to how "The Pit and the Pendulum" relates to "The Gold Bug" as well. In "The Pit and the Pendulum," the reader really does not have much of an idea what is happening in the story when the man is going through all of the death traps that he ends up escaping (Poe,"The Pit"). Poe does not realize until the end of the story that the man is in prison and has been saved by a French soldier (Poe,"The Pit"). In "The Gold Bug" the reader thinks that Legrand has gone mad when the three characters are hunting for the treasure in the forest. Finally when they find the treasure and Legrand explains how he found the solved the map, it becomes clear to the reader what was happening the whole time in the story, Proving that "The Gold Bug" relates to "The City in the Sea" and "The Pit and the Pendulum" (Poe,"The Gold").

It is clear that "The Gold Bug" reflects the definition of Romanticism, relates to the events taking place in Poe's life during the time it was written, and relates to other works of Poe. It reflects the definition of Romanticism by the way it "contemplates nature's beauty as a path to spiritual and moral development, " and also how the work "shuns the artificiality of civilization and seeks unspoiled nature" (Langley). "The Gold Bug" also reflects the events that Poe was going through in life by delivering a quick read that grabs the reader's attention and also has plenty of depth (Barney, Paddock) Finally, the story relates to other works written by Poe such as "The City in the Sea" and "The Pit and the Pendulum" by the way that Poe introduces each story with a mysterious tone, but finally explains the events that take place by the end of each story.

Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. "Poe, Edgar Allan." //Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895//, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. //Bloom's Literary Reference Online//. Facts On File, Inc. [] EAmL0723&SingleRecord=True (accessed December 9, 2010).

Langley, John R. "Romanticism 1800-1860." //Mr. Langley's Digital Classroom//. Google, 24 Oct. 2010. Web. 9 Dec. 2010. < [] >. Microsoft Power Point File.

Poe, Edgar A. "The City in the Sea by Edgar Allan Poe." //The Literature Network: Online Classic Literature, Poems, and Quotes. Essays & Summaries//. Jalic Inc., 2000. Web. 09 Dec. 2010. < [] >. (Poe, City).

Poe, Edgar A. "The Gold Bug." //University of Virginia Library//. University of Virginia. Web. 09 Dec. 2010. < [] >.

Poe, Edgar A. "The Pit and the Pendulum." //University of Virginia Library//. University of Virginia. Web. 09 Dec. 2010. < [] >.