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William Wilson by Edgar Allan Poe

            All authors use literary features to develop atmosphere in their stories, and "William Wilson" is no exception. The short story "William Wilson" employs the internal conflict of the narrator with an imaginary doppelganger to illustrate the conflicts between a man and his conscience. The gothic mood of the story which follows a dark and mysterious form, intensifies the atmosphere of Poe's psychological conflict, and drives the story like a mystery way to its conclusion. Moreover, the writing style of story is very calm and common even with the conflict that amplifying the story's mysterious mood. Because the story contains an unreliable narrator, we cannot trust that we are seeing the real picture or truth of the story. Exploring how Edgar Allan Poe depicts the atmosphere in his story by utilizing various stylistic devices such as diction, symbolism and metaphor, teaches us how he creates the story's mood. .
             To begin with, Poe paints the dark atmosphere with his use of diction. When Poe's narrator tries to execute his plans in the middle of the night, he is frightened to see his rival's appearance and describes him as, "perfect an imitation of myself" (Poe). The word choice of "imitation of myself" represents how the narrator fears the existence of his doppelganger. Running away from his doppelganger emphasizes his panic. The reader sees the doppelganger as Wilson's own conscience because the imitation of himself whispers moral advice and the narrator cannot escape. The narrator, though not the reader, ignores the hint from the doppelganger. This indicates he does feel the pang of conscience but he wishes to escape.
             Poe effectively uses symbolism. On various occasions the author utilizes it to give clues to the readers of the underlying nature of the story's antagonist. For instance, the gate and the wall at the schoolyard clearly demonstrate the distinctive style of Poe.


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