The poem, written by Allan Poe, “The Raven”, is about an unnamed character who is alone in his house on a cold December evening. As he is about to fall asleep he hears a knock on the door, but decides to ignore it. He continues reading in the hope of reliving the pain of his “lost Lenore”. Then he hears a knock on the window and when he goes to open it a crow flies in. He jokingly asks the crows name and the crow responds with “Nevermore” then asks the crow if the corners that have appeared are a sign that he will relive his pain and once again the crow responds with “Nevermore”. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The entire poem relates to the course theme Conflict of Conscience because since his grief and mourning over his passing Lenore has led the character to an irrational state of mind. The narrator senses that the air has become "thicker, scented by an invisible censer" and says that it must indicate the presence of "Seraphs," or angels, sent by God to help him recover from the grief of the loss of Lenore. He wonders if he might be able to "drink this kind of nepenthe." The narrator hoped to reunite with Lenore through supernatural means. Now he suddenly senses another possibility, that he could be saved from his painful memories by supernatural means: the "nepenthe", a mythological potion of oblivion. This indicates how the loss of his Lenore has led the character to an irrational state of mind that is unable to understand Raven's simple response to "Nevermore". Another key point in showing how conflict of conscience is evident in the poem is how death and mourning for the dead is an inevitable situation that also diminishes someone's ability to reason. Towards the end of the poem the narrator is overcome with despair, while the raven “never flutters, it stands still” on the bust of Pallas. The narrator concludes by saying that he continues to live in the inescapable shadow of the bird, which symbolizes how death and mourning death are an inevitable situation. The Crow's refusal to leave parallels the narrator's memories of Lenore, which similarly never dissipate, suggesting that death and mourning the dead are inevitable. Furthermore, the Raven sitting, forever, on the bust of Pallas suggests that the narrator's ability to reason has been permanently diminished and overwhelmed by the unknowable. Finally, when someone is grieving, their state of mind is vulnerable, which further affects their consciousness. When the Raven flies in, perching on a bust of Pallas above the door. At first, the narrator finds the bird's “grave and severe decorum” amusing and asks it its name. To his amazement, the bird replies "Never again." The narrator points out to himself that what the Crow says must be "stock and store," words gathered by copying those of an earlier master. But, unable to contain his curiosity, he grabs a velvet chair and sits directly in front of the bird, trying to understand what this “creepy bird of old” means by “Never again.” All the while, he imagines that Lenore might be nearby. Notice how at first the narrator simply finds the bird amusing and quickly develops a rational response as to how the bird learned the word “Nevermore.” But curiosity, the desire to know more, to venture into the unknown push him to want to understand the bird. And the sense of Lenore's presence implies that her curiosity is driven without the rational sense that the bird can give her news of her lost love. Please note: this is just an example. Get it now.