The incipit of the story “MS. Found in a Bottle” by Edgar Allan Poe is a quote from the French work Atys, “Qui n'a plus qu'un moment a vivre N'a plus rien a dissimuler” (Poe 1). This roughly translates to the idea that a man who is dying or in the final moments of his life has nothing to hide. Whether the truth comes out voluntarily or involuntarily, man has no reason to lie. This quote can be interpreted differently in relation to Poe's story. A man who feels close to death, or a man who feels lonely and suicidal, does not need to lie. At that point the truth might even seem like a cry for help. Outside of the psychoanalytic lens, on a superficial level the opening serves as a foreshadowing of the narrator's death and demonstrates his trustworthiness. Psychoanalytic criticism “attempts to…provide a psychological study of a single writer” (Smith 304). When a story is analyzed psychoanalytically, it can reveal quite a lot about the mind of an author. “Writers reveal instinctive or repressed selves in their books” (Smith 305). Deep inner feelings emerge in an author's work. Fear, anger and sadness (in the form of loneliness) are the predominant emotions that the narrator feels throughout the story. Through a psychoanalytic lens, the story “MS. Found in a Bottle,” reveals to readers that Edgar Allan Poe once survived a trauma in his life that changed him and continued to affect him throughout his life. His subconscious feelings of loneliness, fear, and frustration both during and after the event manifest themselves in the story where he finally writes about himself. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The first clue that the story is actually about of a traumatic experience that Poe survived is the fact that the story is about a survivor. The shipwreck is a terrifying ordeal that the narrator experiences only with one other person, the Swede we were the only ones who survived the accident” (Poe 2). They stayed together “five whole days and five nights” (Poe 2 was the only other person who felt the same terror, who lived that same experience. He was the only one who could understand what the narrator thought about it. Then the Swede dies, leaving the narrator alone in the aftermath of the accident. He is the only survivor of the shipwreck that he does not expect to survive at all. In fact, he is prepared for death: «I awaited without fear the ruin that was to overwhelm me» (Poe 4). He survives the trauma but it alters him and his view of his surroundings. Immediately afterwards he enters a new and foreign environment. The second ship as “a horrible thing that inspired [them] horror and amazement” (Poe 5). The idea of ​​moving forward seems unfathomable and scary. On the second ship there are reminders and triggers everywhere. His anxiety is consuming him. Poe writes details about the narrator's constant and escalating state of fear throughout the story which ends in a psychotic break that brings his mind back to the traumatic shipwreck. It focuses noticeably on the discomfort the narrator experiences throughout the entire story. His stress levels are noticeably high from the start and build to inescapable terror as the story progresses. He was terrified by the things that seem to presage the destruction of the first ship: "my anxiety, however, did not prevent me from sleeping" and he had "a full presentiment of evil" (Poe 8). The destruction of the ship soon afterward validated his anticipation. This confirmation increases his panic on the second ship. He begins to relive the moments before the first shipwreck and recreate that sense of anticipation. The mention oflike “the wind is still on our poop” (Poe 8) is almost identical to the previous “the flame of a candle burned on the poop without the slightest perceptible movement” (Poe 2). Starts having the same thoughts as before when activated. It drives him into panic. He writes about how threatening the waves are: “the colossal waters lift their heads above us like demons of the deep, but like demons confined to mere menaces” (Poe 8). These crashing waves seem terrifying to the reader in the eyes of the narrator but in reality, without the menacing character projected onto them by the timid survivor, they are just waves that do not reach the deck of the ship. In his mind the waves seem like a very serious threat, but his mind is blowing them out of proportion because they really aren't one. Even small things can be triggering if they remind you of the past. He is truly surprised that “the enormous bulk of the ship is not swallowed up at once and forever” (Poe 7). Survival seems like a miracle with all these supposed threats around him. These dangers are not perceived by those around him. “I find it impossible to maintain equilibrium though the crew seem to experience little inconvenience” (Poe 7). Also note the “swirl” at the beginning and end. All of this shows the reader that the narrator sees threats to his safety that no one else sees. There are imaginary dangers around him that bring his mind back to the state of mind of the initial trauma. The striking similarities between beginning and end show that Poe experienced the cyclical nature of a memory-induced fear. He wrote the second whirlwind and the shipwreck to represent a hallucination or nightmare as a result of the lasting mental effects of the initial tragedy and exposure to emotional triggers. The loneliness that Poe writes into the story is perhaps the most important aspect to examine. At the beginning of the story the narrator feels separated from his family and his country (Poe 1). He feels completely alone in the world. However, due to the narrative style, he is actually writing this and feels this way after the shipwreck and while hiding in the second ship. The shipwreck, a traumatic event that makes him feel different feelings from those he felt before: "A feeling, for which I have no name, has taken possession of my soul, a sensation that does not allow analysis, to which the lessons of past times are inadequate , and to which I fear the future itself will offer me no key” (Poe 5). Poe writes about loneliness and other new feelings he experienced. His mind is doing things it has never done before, following the tragedy. He feels that no matter how much time he is given, he won't be able to put a name to that feeling. This portrays a feeling of hopelessness and an inability to feel different or get out of the low place he is in. Along with his loneliness, the narrator also feels completely detached from his surroundings. This is especially evident in his interactions with the second ship's crew. This vessel is representative of life among other people after a traumatic relationship. He is surrounded by crew members whom he paints as a kind of ghostly untouchables with "the irritability of second childhood and the solemn dignity of a God" (Poe 6). He can't relate to the people around him. They are unreachable and have no contact with him. He feels completely ignored: “they paid me no attention, and, though I was among them all, they seemed quite unaware of my presence” (Poe 7). He survived something terrifying but can't find anyone to talk to about how he feels or how he was affected. He feels that he is not on the same level as those around him. They are outsiders in his eyes after the shipwreck,.