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The Man That Was Used Up: An Edgar Allan Poe Short Story
"The Man That Was Used Up" is a classic short story written by Edgar Allan Poe and first published in 1839.
The story follows an unnamed narrator who seeks out the famous war hero John A. B. C. Smith. He becomes suspicious that Smith has some deep secret when others refuse to describe him, instead remarking only on the latest advancements in technology. When he finally meets Smith, the man must first be assembled piece by piece. It is likely that in this satire Poe is actually referring to General Winfield Scott, veteran of the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, and the American Civil War. Poe is questioning the strong male identity as well as questioning where humanity falls as machines become more advanced.
Librarian's note: this entry is for the story, "The Man That Was Used Up." Collections of short stories by the author can be found elsewhere on Goodreads.
The story follows an unnamed narrator who seeks out the famous war hero John A. B. C. Smith. He becomes suspicious that Smith has some deep secret when others refuse to describe him, instead remarking only on the latest advancements in technology. When he finally meets Smith, the man must first be assembled piece by piece. It is likely that in this satire Poe is actually referring to General Winfield Scott, veteran of the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, and the American Civil War. Poe is questioning the strong male identity as well as questioning where humanity falls as machines become more advanced.
Librarian's note: this entry is for the story, "The Man That Was Used Up." Collections of short stories by the author can be found elsewhere on Goodreads.
10 pages
First published January 1, 1839
6 people are currently reading
228 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Allan Poe
9,970 books28.9k followersThe name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Fall of the House of Usher. This versatile writer’s oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry.
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
March 2, 2025
The Man that Was Used Up: A Tale of the Late Bugaboo and Kickapoo Campaign (1839) is a satirical piece by Edgar Allan Poe. It tells of a man meeting a General, and becoming very impressed by his magnificent appearance and reputation in the battlefield. He seeks to find out more about this soldier, but nobody seems willing to comment merely talking about advancements in technology, or achievements of the inventive age.
He determines to seek out the general at his home,
It is thought that Poe based this soldier on a real person, and that he is critical of the military model of manhood, because of his own military experiences. (Poe got himself court-marshalled in order to leave the army.) The identity of the war hero consists solely in his injuries; he has nothing else left. He is "all used up." Interestingly too,
This is a grotesquely humorous piece which has little to appeal to a modern reader, and is best read in context with some of the author's other short stories.
He determines to seek out the general at his home,
It is thought that Poe based this soldier on a real person, and that he is critical of the military model of manhood, because of his own military experiences. (Poe got himself court-marshalled in order to leave the army.) The identity of the war hero consists solely in his injuries; he has nothing else left. He is "all used up." Interestingly too,
This is a grotesquely humorous piece which has little to appeal to a modern reader, and is best read in context with some of the author's other short stories.
July 31, 2023
Divertido relato de Poe.
En una fiesta, un hombre conoce al brigadier general John A.B.C. Smith, un señor que roza la perfección física y mental. En esa misma fiesta, le comentan una aventura que se queda inconclusa. Este señor intentará por todos los medios posibles satisfacer su curiosidad y saber qué pasó en esa aventura, pero las circunstancias lo impiden. Llega un punto en el cual decide, directamente, ir a ver al general a su casa y allí se lleva un sorpresa.
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Funny story by Poe.
At a party, a man meets Brigadier General John A.B.C. Smith, a gentleman bordering on physical and mental perfection. At the same party, he is told of an adventure that remains unfinished. This gentleman will try in every possible way to satisfy his curiosity and find out what happened in that adventure, but circumstances prevent him from doing so. At one point, he decides to go to see the general at his home, where he gets a surprise.
En una fiesta, un hombre conoce al brigadier general John A.B.C. Smith, un señor que roza la perfección física y mental. En esa misma fiesta, le comentan una aventura que se queda inconclusa. Este señor intentará por todos los medios posibles satisfacer su curiosidad y saber qué pasó en esa aventura, pero las circunstancias lo impiden. Llega un punto en el cual decide, directamente, ir a ver al general a su casa y allí se lleva un sorpresa.
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Funny story by Poe.
At a party, a man meets Brigadier General John A.B.C. Smith, a gentleman bordering on physical and mental perfection. At the same party, he is told of an adventure that remains unfinished. This gentleman will try in every possible way to satisfy his curiosity and find out what happened in that adventure, but circumstances prevent him from doing so. At one point, he decides to go to see the general at his home, where he gets a surprise.
March 11, 2022
As per usual, Poe fails to make much sense with this satirical story. It doesn’t help that literally no one knows who it’s referring to. He tends to be so overly descriptive that the actual plot gets lost and confusing.
April 5, 2025
1 Star. Distasteful and racist all in one. But it is difficult to judge 183 years after publication. If a generation averages 25 years, that's more than 7 back. For Queen Elizabeth II, seven generations back is George 3rd whose forces took New France and Canada in 1759! Attitudes evolve. The same period forward would be the 23rd century. What unknown indiscretions are we committing today? Poe's 10-page story came out in 'Burton's Gentleman's Magazine' in 1839; it is one of several in 'The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales' of 1960. The narrator is seeking information about a military hero, Brigadier-General John A.B.C. Smith. At first he hasn't met him but commends his dashing figure. Why can't he get anyone to say anything definitive? They all remark in the same vein as Miss Tabitha T. who says, "Bless me I thought you knew all about him! This is a wonderfully inventive age!" Huh? Then they go on to praise his valour and smear the native Americans against whom he fought in various wars. What's it about? Making fun of prosthetics, war wounds and the dreadful natives, with a touch of slave abuse thrown in. Enough said. (Ja2021/Ap2025)
March 20, 2021
This was a humorous pastiche.
October 4, 2020
The Man that was Used Up or sometimes subtitled A Tale of the Late Bugaboo and Kickapoo Campaign (1839) describing a man with extensive prostheses is a short story of satire examining society's perception of the male gender role of military men. . "This tale has been identified by Poe's contemporary Nathaniel Parker Willis as one of Poe's personal favorites among his satires. Sova, Dawn B. (2001). Edgar Allan Poe, A to Z: the essential reference to his life and work. New York: Checkmark Books. (148) According to scholar Leland S. Person, "Poe is using the story as a critique of male military identity, which he knew well from his own military career and his studies at the United States Military Academy at West Point. It is a literal deconstruction of the identity of a military model of manhood that was given status after Indian removal campaigns of the 1830s. The story seems to suggest that the war hero has nothing left but the injuries he has received in battle to make up his identity." Person, Leland S. "Poe and Nineteenth Century Gender Constructions" as collected in A Historical Guide to Edgar Allan Poe, J. Gerald Kennedy, ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001: 157.
As I was reading this story and the general's valet was reassembling him an eureka moment hit me and I started thinking OMG! this is a sort of prototype cyborg. "A cyborg, a portmanteau of "cybernetic organism," is a being both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and American scientist and researcher Nathan S. Kline. Clynes, Manfred E. and Nathan S. Kline. "Cyborgs and Space." Astronautics, September 1960, p. 26-27, cont'd on 74-76. The concept of a man-machine mixture was widespread in science fiction before World War II. As early as1843 [actually 1st published in 1839], Edgar Allan Poe described a man with extensive prostheses in the short story "The Man That Was Used Up". In 1911, Jean de La Hire introduced the Nyctalope, a science fiction hero who was perhaps the first literary cyborg, in Le Mystère des XV (later translated as The Nyctalope on Mars)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyborg#... Poe's 19th century incredible imaginings stirred the pot of science fiction protoplasm that eventually brought us 20th century cyborgs. In our modern science fiction, the most recognizable portrayal of a cyborg is a human being with visibly mechanical parts, cyborgs such as the superhero Cyborg from DC Comics or the Borg from Star Trek, Darth Vader from Star Wars or Misty Knight from Marvel Comics. Cyborgs may even have mechanical parts or bodies that appear human TV's The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman had bionic parts that looked like the body parts they replaced and the list goes on with many more examples. It was as if Poe opened up the floodgates of sci-fi cyborg creations. He planted the seeds which took a while but when they sprouted they flourished in the imaginings of many creative writer's minds. Yes General John A. B. C. Smith was definitely "the Man" and he was litterally all "used up".
As I was reading this story and the general's valet was reassembling him an eureka moment hit me and I started thinking OMG! this is a sort of prototype cyborg. "A cyborg, a portmanteau of "cybernetic organism," is a being both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and American scientist and researcher Nathan S. Kline. Clynes, Manfred E. and Nathan S. Kline. "Cyborgs and Space." Astronautics, September 1960, p. 26-27, cont'd on 74-76. The concept of a man-machine mixture was widespread in science fiction before World War II. As early as
June 19, 2018
I read a bunch of Poe stories on my vacation and now I'm trying to catch up on reviewing. It's getting old. I don't even know why I set about on this adventure to read all of Poe. I think I thought it would be much more amusing than it actually was, but once I figured that out I was already invested and had to finish it out. (Getting VERY close, btw.)
This is just another ridiculous story that spends a long time getting to the point. This guy, who has a passion for fine shoulders, is trying to find out more information about an impressive gentleman he came across, that had some stunning whiskers.
...it is not too much to say that they were the handsomest pair of whiskers under the sun.
Everyone keeps giving him the same, what he thinks, run around. In reality, they are actually trying to explain what happened to this regal gentleman.
The ending is, of course, where the truth comes out and everything everyone else was saying makes sense. I don't know where he comes up with these things.
Pompey, who was a servant in other Poe short stories, makes an appearance. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be the same character, or if Poe couldn't come up with any other names for black servants.
I didn't love it, but it wasn't the worst.
This is just another ridiculous story that spends a long time getting to the point. This guy, who has a passion for fine shoulders, is trying to find out more information about an impressive gentleman he came across, that had some stunning whiskers.
...it is not too much to say that they were the handsomest pair of whiskers under the sun.
Everyone keeps giving him the same, what he thinks, run around. In reality, they are actually trying to explain what happened to this regal gentleman.
The ending is, of course, where the truth comes out and everything everyone else was saying makes sense. I don't know where he comes up with these things.
Pompey, who was a servant in other Poe short stories, makes an appearance. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be the same character, or if Poe couldn't come up with any other names for black servants.
I didn't love it, but it wasn't the worst.
February 7, 2018
This is not one of Poe's greatest hits according to my humble opinion. It is the first comic story written by Poe that I read, so I cannot tell if comedy is not his thing (or his humor is not that popular nowadays) or if just this specific story does not "click" my humor sensors. I am not saying it is bad, but it was much more boring than other stories of him. Having said these, I have to admit that the ending was quite unexpected and a bit amusing!
August 27, 2023
Look at me, actually reading something for the first time in weeks.
This one was darkly humorous.
This one was darkly humorous.
July 16, 2013
It is a quick read and really quite humorous, the end is more"aha!" than scary. I reccommend!
June 8, 2019
I have arranged my takeaway thoughts on this story into a haiku:
"Glory's price is shown
When its leavings prompt saying
'That' instead of 'Who.'"
"Glory's price is shown
When its leavings prompt saying
'That' instead of 'Who.'"
December 11, 2020
come on tell me who are you
May 4, 2019
And now, if it weren't for the stellar synopsis to recommend it (and interpret it), I should tear the whole thing apart.
I didn't take this to be a satire at all. However, the way that the nameless (not Thompson) narrator is consistently blocked from his desire for information, in exactly the same way, over and over, I guess that's the satire part. Perhaps even the parting line and title- the man that was used up. Which I suppose would be funny in application. Especially in those times.
Somehow, for me, this read a touch like horror. The blob at the end, the man that's put together piece by piece (a touch like Frankenstein truly), felt horror like. Which makes sense because that's what we've come to expect from him- not satire. If nothing else, the piece would be illustrative that nothing is as it appears to be. In fact all that is fine- and didn't he go on and on about this man's beautiful body parts- is false seems to be another facet of this story.
If in fact horror was intended, then the horror lie most in how the "hero" treated his servant/ slave.
I didn't take this to be a satire at all. However, the way that the nameless (not Thompson) narrator is consistently blocked from his desire for information, in exactly the same way, over and over, I guess that's the satire part. Perhaps even the parting line and title- the man that was used up. Which I suppose would be funny in application. Especially in those times.
Somehow, for me, this read a touch like horror. The blob at the end, the man that's put together piece by piece (a touch like Frankenstein truly), felt horror like. Which makes sense because that's what we've come to expect from him- not satire. If nothing else, the piece would be illustrative that nothing is as it appears to be. In fact all that is fine- and didn't he go on and on about this man's beautiful body parts- is false seems to be another facet of this story.
If in fact horror was intended, then the horror lie most in how the "hero" treated his servant/ slave.
April 24, 2024
Meh.
It was ok, but not worth reviewing.
For the moment at least.
It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1839] [10p] [Horror] [2.5] [Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Meh.
Estuvo bien, pero no vale la pena reseñarlo.
Al menos por ahora.
Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1839] [10p] [Horror] [2.5] [No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
It was ok, but not worth reviewing.
For the moment at least.
It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1839] [10p] [Horror] [2.5] [Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Meh.
Estuvo bien, pero no vale la pena reseñarlo.
Al menos por ahora.
Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1839] [10p] [Horror] [2.5] [No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
June 11, 2012
So today's technologies are a truly marvelous thing, when one considers the then 'advancements' of the past, they are seemingly archaic now... But what if you met an individual so 'used up' that his entire being depends on some technology? Well this tale's unnamed narrator met such an individual eventually learning the secret no one would reveal...
November 15, 2007
i think a lesser-read Poe story, but the ending is FABULOUS. this story is amazing, and written a bit differently from his other stories.
June 8, 2012
This one gives an entirely new meaning to the phrase 'Used Up' !
November 7, 2017
Smith? why not General John A.B.C. Smith? Why he's the man...
... mandatory reading if you want to know how Edgar Allan Poe would retell the paradox of Theseus' Ship. Otherwise, I say its a bit of a slow tale about that man of great courage who took care of that dreadful business with the Bugaboos and the Kickapoos.
... mandatory reading if you want to know how Edgar Allan Poe would retell the paradox of Theseus' Ship. Otherwise, I say its a bit of a slow tale about that man of great courage who took care of that dreadful business with the Bugaboos and the Kickapoos.
June 16, 2010
A satirical short story about a man trying to find out more about a famous war general, it's almost ahead of its time with respect to the final concept, although not a particularly special story in total.
June 16, 2020
This must be one of the most annoying, nonsensical things I’ve ever read. Add the blatant racism as the cherry on top and Poe rambling on and on and never getting to the point, only to find that there is no point. I’m just left frustrated and annoyed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2012
Interesting, entertaining tale of curiosity, & what happens when that dogged curiosity is fulfilled! Another one of those stories that shows Poe's rather sarcastic sense of humor.
October 22, 2012
This was an interesting story about the developments of technology with regards to war. It has a great twist at the end. More of a comedic Poe in this story.
Read
September 11, 2021read to me by a friend! Edgar Allen Poe becomes a steampunk while being the horniest anyone has ever been and passionately describing a guy’s Legs
July 10, 2025
The Man That Was Used Up by Edgar Allan Poe
Early on, I was enthralled with Edgar Allan Poe.
Take the name first.
Is this my mistake, or Edgar Allan Poe has in his very name
Tales of Mystery and Imagination?
A likelier explanation is a post factum adding of significance to a name.
But, whatever the true explanation, this repeated name- Edgar Allan Poe has
A magic ring to it.
After hearing the wonderful name, I have learned about the fact that Poe was afraid that he could be buried alive. In one of his stories, I forgot which, there is a character who filled me with terror, by going on about how terrible it would be to wake up in a tomb, after people thought you had died, but you only had had an attack of epilepsy.
Looking on the web, I find that Edgar Allan Poe is believed to have suffered from Manic- Depressive Bipolar Disorder or/and clinical depression.
In The Man Who Was Used Up, very early on, we hear about a general Smith that has cast a spell on women, and is considered very valiant and worthy.
I couldn’t be sure what the message that Poe meant to convey was, but it makes me think of a development on our national stage, which took place yesterday.
Crin Antonescu announced that he will not run for the office of president of Romania. This is a kind of The Man Who Was Used Up in reverse.
In the Poe story we keep hearing how great, potent, powerful the general is. In my country, I kept reading about how terrible, vain, power hungry Crin Antonescu was, for it seems that this theory has been proven wrong.
The image that the media, opinion makers create of a person seems to be quite far away from the truth.
By resigning and abandoning any completion for the highest office, Crin Antonescu has committed an act without precedence in Romania. This proves that he is a man of honor, with strong values and interested in the benefit of the others.
I very much doubt that this unique proof of generosity and interest in the public good will be appreciated as such.
On the contrary, present day “Generals”: Smith, Nastase, Oprea, Ponta, Mazare, Sarbu and the like- will continue to hold center stage, be appreciated by an indoctrinated populace, which doesn’t know how to make the difference between good and bad.
For me this story of the Used Up Man is a symbol of the distorted values that are promoted in the arena, in Edgar Allan Poe’s time and in ours.
Early on, I was enthralled with Edgar Allan Poe.
Take the name first.
Is this my mistake, or Edgar Allan Poe has in his very name
Tales of Mystery and Imagination?
A likelier explanation is a post factum adding of significance to a name.
But, whatever the true explanation, this repeated name- Edgar Allan Poe has
A magic ring to it.
After hearing the wonderful name, I have learned about the fact that Poe was afraid that he could be buried alive. In one of his stories, I forgot which, there is a character who filled me with terror, by going on about how terrible it would be to wake up in a tomb, after people thought you had died, but you only had had an attack of epilepsy.
Looking on the web, I find that Edgar Allan Poe is believed to have suffered from Manic- Depressive Bipolar Disorder or/and clinical depression.
In The Man Who Was Used Up, very early on, we hear about a general Smith that has cast a spell on women, and is considered very valiant and worthy.
I couldn’t be sure what the message that Poe meant to convey was, but it makes me think of a development on our national stage, which took place yesterday.
Crin Antonescu announced that he will not run for the office of president of Romania. This is a kind of The Man Who Was Used Up in reverse.
In the Poe story we keep hearing how great, potent, powerful the general is. In my country, I kept reading about how terrible, vain, power hungry Crin Antonescu was, for it seems that this theory has been proven wrong.
The image that the media, opinion makers create of a person seems to be quite far away from the truth.
By resigning and abandoning any completion for the highest office, Crin Antonescu has committed an act without precedence in Romania. This proves that he is a man of honor, with strong values and interested in the benefit of the others.
I very much doubt that this unique proof of generosity and interest in the public good will be appreciated as such.
On the contrary, present day “Generals”: Smith, Nastase, Oprea, Ponta, Mazare, Sarbu and the like- will continue to hold center stage, be appreciated by an indoctrinated populace, which doesn’t know how to make the difference between good and bad.
For me this story of the Used Up Man is a symbol of the distorted values that are promoted in the arena, in Edgar Allan Poe’s time and in ours.
March 11, 2023
As I've found so often in Poe's humor especially in this project to read straight through his collected work, this begins as a joke on notoriety and the ignorance of it--how those who claim to know about celebrities are actually merely repeating probable falsehoods--and then shifts in the end to say something rather a shade darker about the Indian Wars. Interesting that.
January 14, 2025
I liked this
September 4, 2024
yikes this was not it
October 9, 2020
"El hombre que se gastó" es un relato satírico de Poe, unos de sus costados menos inspirados, en el que un narrador, que admira a un veterano de guerra, el general John A. B. C. Smith, que es famoso por su porte, belleza y físico imponente, descubrirá algo realmente grotesco cuando se encuentre a solas con él.
Una alegoría a todo aquello que creemos ver de una manera, pero que en realidad es una mentira.
Una alegoría a todo aquello que creemos ver de una manera, pero que en realidad es una mentira.
June 13, 2020
The Man That Was Used Up
Edgar Allan Poe
Brevet Brigadier General John A. B. C. Smith,
The Price of War, technological advancement, and fame!
Bugaboo and Kickapoo Campaign,
A good satire and however how old it gets it is still relevant minus the racist part of Pompey. this was 1839.
A very good story nonetheless and a great ending!
Edgar Allan Poe
Brevet Brigadier General John A. B. C. Smith,
The Price of War, technological advancement, and fame!
Bugaboo and Kickapoo Campaign,
A good satire and however how old it gets it is still relevant minus the racist part of Pompey. this was 1839.
A very good story nonetheless and a great ending!
April 13, 2014
The title made me vaguely curious, but was actually kind of dumb... and repetitive.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews