“My pets, of course, were made to sense the change in my character. Not only did I neglect them, I misused them. (Poe 969) like this can send bad thoughts into the head, but in Edgar Allan Poe's time it was completely normal. Edgar Poe was born on January 19, 1809, into the broken home of David and Elizabeth Poe. Edgar's childhood was not the best. A year after his birth, David Poe abandoned his family. The following year, in 1811, his mother died, leaving him an orphan. He was soon welcomed by the Allan family. John and Frances, who were a childless couple, renamed him Edgar Allan and raised him as their own. Although he was never legally adopted, Poe traveled to England with his family where he attended good schools until the collapse of the London tobacco market. Upon returning to America, Poe and his adoptive family became bad-tempered towards each other after Allan's company went bankrupt. While studying at the University of Virginia, Poe struggled financially. Allan lost interest in supporting Poe. Although Allan has recently inherited his wealthy bachelor uncle's property and plantations, he...