English 8 Tim Holmes Raven Paper 11/2/09 Has a bird ever flown into your home before? Don’t they usually fly around like crazy? The speaker, in “The Raven”, experienced this hectic event at midnight, in December, but instead of the bird going crazy, the bird just flew in and perched on the bust of Pallas above his chamber door. This all took place in the speaker’s chamber. While everyone agrees that the raven has some unusual characteristics, some believe he is an ordinary bird, while others do not. The raven is not an ordinary bird for three reasons. First is his strange arrival, second is his unusual behavior, and third is his unusual response to the speaker. The first reason that the raven is not an ordinary bird is because of his strange arrival. The fourth word of the poem says that it was midnight. Birds are usually not nocturnal, but diurnal, which means they are mainly active during the day. The raven also comes while the speaker is mourning Lenore’s death, the woman whom he had loved. The bird also was tapping on the window, trying to get in. The speaker opened the window thinking it was only the wind, but then, in there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore (st. 7). The bird did not try to fly out, but tried to get inside by the human. He was not frightened or skittish at all, but very serene and nonchalant. He flew right up to the bust of Pallas, and perched there, staring at the speaker with fiery eyes. The second reason that the raven is not an ordinary bird is his unusual behavior. The bird was tapping on the window trying to get in. Birds do not usually try to get close to humans, but they keep their distance from them. They also do not tap on their windows to get in (st.6).The bird is also not afraid to be near the human or to be in his house. He invites himself in and perches on the bust above his chamber door. After he perched, he did not move a muscle, or flit another feather, and stayed there forever (st.18). The bird never left for food or water. Without food and water, an ordinary bird would die. This raven obviously was not an ordinary bird, so, therefore, the raven did not need food and water. The third reason that the raven is not an ordinary bird is his unusual response to the speaker. The speaker was talking to himself, and the asked the bird what its name was. Then, miraculously, the bird responded, saying, “Nevermore” (st.8). The speaker also said that the bird would leave him, like his other
