“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe is a short story that centers on a mentally deranged soul who ultimately kills an innocent man because of the narrator obsession with his “evil eye”. Poe's story is unique and many wonder why his stories have such a dark nature. Many do not realize that many of Poe's works are due to his state of mind after what appears to be a very dark life he lived. Edgar Allen Poe lived a short, bleak, and complicated life that transformed him into an author and poet who wrote very strange, depressing, and dark works. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Based on research, it appears that Poe's dark childhood is the primary contributor to his haunting writings. “The Tell-Tale Heart” is a perfect example of his many dark works. While “The Tell-Tale Heart” is dark, it is also extremely captivating, along with everything else he wrote. It seems that his most famous work was "The Tell-Tale Heart", which raises questions as to whether he had any personal meaning behind this short and gruesome story. When researching Poe's past, it is evident that he went through many tragedies in what appears to be a very short life. While Poe obviously had normal, happy moments in his life, it seems that darkness consumed most of him, as none of his famous poems contain any kind of light or positivity. Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston in January to itinerant actors. 19, 1809. Unfortunately, within three years, both of his parents died. This led to Poe being taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant, John Allan, and his wife, Frances Valentine Allan. It seems that John Allan wanted Edgar to follow in his footsteps as a businessman, as Edgar also did very well at school. He ended up attending the University of Virginia where he did very well. According to the University of Virginia's Raven Society, it states: "Generally well-liked, Poe was considered talented, if slightly strange by his peers." After some unfortunate events, Poe was unable to return to the University. John Allan did not send him sufficient funds for tuition, leaving him in dire straits. He resorted to gambling, which let everything go downhill from there on out. Gambling was definitely not his strong suit, and according to The Raven Society, he ended up drowning in $2,000 worth of debt. This was just the beginning of his unfortunate adolescence. About two years later, Poe was accepted into West Point Military Academy. Although he began again as an excellent student, he was apparently expelled almost eight months later. The US National Archives blog wrote: “The Conduct Roll for July-December 1831 lists the number of offenses committed by cadets and their corresponding demerits. Poe's name appears halfway down the list of major offenders, with 44 felonies and 106 demerits for the term." Many other strange or unfortunate events occurred in Poe's life. After leaving West Point, he was in poverty and John Allan died, leaving him nothing in his will. He then moved to Baltimore to be taken in by his aunt, Maria Clemm. Poe then fell in love with his daughter, Virginia, and married her when she was only fourteen. Virginia died of tuberculosis at the age of 24, leaving Poe devastated. Then he got engaged to another woman, but never got married. While returning home from a trip, Poe disappeared for five days and was found in the bar of a pub used for an election. Poe spent the last days of his life in a hospital surrounded by strangers, because his fiancée did not,.