The fugitive character in selected works of Edgar Allan Poe

The fugitive character appears in selected, works of Edgar Allan Poe; either as narrator or as main character the fugitive appears in "Dream-Land," "For Annie," "Eldorado," as well as "William Wilson," "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Man of the Crowd," "Hop-Frog," "The Masque of the Red Death," and "The Pit and the Pendulum," and others. As the word suggests, the fugitive is best defined in a state of flight or constant motion; his flight is a reaction to his condition which is made clear at the outset of the tales in which ha appears. The flight, which is both physical and mental, may lead to death, the unknown, or to an affirmation of the individual's place on earth. The chase or flight best defines the nature of the fugitive's existence, because he is always running, figuratively and literally. Metaphorically, his flight is neither an ascent nor a descent; he is usually running in place. Of Poe's fugitive characters only Dupin and Ellison find an adequate physical refuge. For other Poe characters the fugitive state is a refuge in itself, as seen in "Hop-Frog," for instance. [...]