Symbol of the Raven

Talking about raven, we should make sure everyone knows what kind of weird animal it is.  It is a huge black bird resembling a crow, but much much much larger in size. Raven can have many meanings over a huge range. In some culture, it is highly praised as the messenger of God. In others, they are feared as embodiment of evil. Of course, "metropolitist"(a name I made up, definitely no  need to look it up) like me, despise them as a good-for-nothing pest bird. Poe uses the raven in a really cool way. So the guy in the story go with the holy definition while the overall atmosphere contributes to the evil bird image. Part of this entry question is why do you think Poe used raven instead of a chicken, owl or parrot. Simply for the coolness I would say. If a chicken flies in, I'll just roast it and start eating, not talking for sure. Owl is too cute to give the cool evil look (just look at that super cute Harry Potter's owl~~ white and fluffy!!!) Parrot, hmm, it is pretty distracting to have such a colorful bird for a cool dark story like this. If its a parrot, the nevermore seems weak(parrot KNOWS how to talk). Furthermore, petting him is cooler than talking to him.