A reader may say that Poe's stories are dark and a little twisted. The theme of death may be a direct reflection of Edgar's associations with it. More generally, Poe's stories in one way or another coincidentally deal with the death of a loved one. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Roderick's twin sister Madeline is the one who inevitably greets the face of the reaper himself. Poe's biological mother died when he was a young boy and his stepmother died when Poe was twenty (Bio). Perhaps, however, the most influential death Poe faced was that of his wife Virginia in 1847 (Poemuseum). Remarkably, much of the literary perceptions of this period were directed at the irrevocability of death and the restlessness it brought with it. Most nineteenth-century literary conceptions were motivated by the support of the individual's spirit and in many ways denied the physical aspects of death. This is seen when Roderick and his host try to preserve young Madeline's body for two weeks (Andrews