Response 7 (10/27)

The system of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether was oddly funny, which is probably why it is considered dark humor. However, the ideas discussed in the story were not so funny. The whole idea of the system the soothing not working and thus throwing the mental asylum into chaos puts mental patients in a bad light. This is especially so since at the time there was much controversy over how hospitals were run since they were more like prisons and not treatment centers. To me, it looks like Poe disapproves of the system of soothing, which simply states that you treat a patient how they believe they are. So for example if they think they are a chicken, you will treat them like a chicken by feeding them corn or other things. Poe’s story makes it sound like giving patients this option of treatment is mediocre and stupid. His ideals seem to be to forcibly treat patients to make them normal members of society, because of you give them special treatment they will turn on you, and it will be your fault because your let your guard down and gave them the chance. Poe seemed to struggle quiet a bit with mental illness, seeing as many believe that he had several, and he was constantly labeled as a person with these problems. He might have a bit of a hatred for those mentally ill, because he didn’t want to be compared to them or looked at as an experiment. Even though his story was enjoyable, it gives us a deeper understanding of Poe’s feelings and where he hands and the issue of mental disease and illness.