In the story, “The Fall of The House of Usher”, there are many mysterious happenings that go on throughout the story between the characters Roderick Usher and the narrator. Throughout the story, Edgar Allan Poe uses themes such as madness and insanity to connect the house back to Roderick Usher. In the “Fall of The House of Usher”, the narrator goes through many different experiences when arriving to the house. The narrator’s experiences start out as almost unnoticeable in the beginning, turn into bigger ones right before his eyes, and end up becoming problems that cause deterioration of the mind and the house before the narrator even decides to do anything helpful for Roderick and his mental illness. In “The Fall of The House of Usher”, Edgar Allan Poe uses comparison between the physical House of Usher and the family of Usher to describe that looks can be deceiving and that little problems can lead to later downfall. In the beginning, The House of Usher looked a little dreary but nothing that the narrator felt to be concerned about. Poe writes, “Nevertheless, in this mansion of gloom I now proposed myself a sojourn of some weeks. Its proprietor, Roderick Usher had been one of my boon comparisons in boyhood; but many years had erased since our last meeting”(Poe 1). This quote shows the reader that there was a sense of weirdness to the mansion, but the narrator overlooked the strangeness because Roderick Usher had been his friend since childhood. “The Fall of the House of Usher” is one of those stories that the reader knows more about the main character than the narrator does. The reader can already pick up on Roderick’s madness and insanity in the beginning, while the narrator picks up on it when it is too late... ... middle of paper ... ...ed if his friend thought about people more than just the general aspect of them. Waiting until problems spiral into greater ones causes major downfall, so the moral is too never pass by an opportunity to fix a problem in life before it is too late. Works Cited Hobby, Blake. "The Sublime in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" ." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Fall of the House of Usher." Prentice Hall Literature Georgia: The American Experience. Upper Sadlle River: Pearson, 2011. 292-310. Print. Sova, Dawn B. ""The Fall of the House of Usher"." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. "The Fall of the House of Usher." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 51-66. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
In “Fall of the House of Usher”, the setting takes place at the house of Usher, whose friend, the main character, comes to visit because Usher is dying. He travels through the house, visiting the family members and sees the house is in a serious state of disrepair. A theory on the story
Poe, Edgar A, and David D. Galloway. The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings:
In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the mythic connection between the narrator’s friend Usher and his family home relays an important commentary on the nature of aristocratic American life. The “mental disorder” (110) that Usher suffers from is indicative of the relationship between the individual and his class status. Usher has an abundance of money and comes from an “ancient family” (111) of a reputable status; however, when the narrator reveals that there is no “enduring branch” (111) to continue the Usher line, it becomes clear that the aristocratic man is utterly defined by the material. This notion can then be expanded to the larger American society at the time of Poe’s writing: through his depiction of Usher’s helplessness and inability to control his environment, Poe is making...
During the nineteenth century, literary writers were encouraged in transcendentalism. Their main focus was on capturing the spirituality in nature. For example, authors such as Henry Thoreau and Ralph Emerson were dominating the world of poetry and prose with their tales of nature. From Thoreau's' journey through the Maine Woods to Emerson's Nature, the transcendental ere, was in the main stream. Yet, not all of the nineteenth century writers shared this same viewpoint. As a matter of fact, one writer emerging, who proved to be just as prominent, had a viewpoint in direct opposition of his contemporaries. The great Edgar Allen Poe, though born during the same period and encountered the same influences, would emerge as a different writer. "Those others", Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, Whittier and Holmes, "turned toward Wordsworth while Poe, took Coleridge as his loadstar in his search for a consistent theory of art" (Perkins 1236).
Poe, Edgar A. "The Fall of the House of Usher." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 6th
Edgar Allan Poe is undoubtedly one of American Literature's legendary and prolific writers, and it is normal to say that his works touched on many aspects of the human psyche and personality. While he was no psychologist, he wrote about things that could evoke the reasons behind every person's character, whether flawed or not. Some would say his works are of the horror genre, succeeding in frightening his audience into trying to finish reading the book in one sitting, but making them think beyond the story and analyze it through imagery. The "Fall of the House of Usher" is one such tale that uses such frightening imagery that one can only sigh in relief that it is just a work of fiction. However, based on the biography of Poe, events that surrounded his life while he was working on his tales were enough to show the emotions he undoubtedly was experiencing during that time.
6. Poe, Edgar Allan. The Fall of the House of Usher and other writings. London: Penguin Books, 2003.
Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, sets a tone that is dark, gloomy, and threatening. His inclusion of highly descriptive words and various forms of figurative language enhance the story’s evil nature, giving the house and its inhabitants eerie and “supernatural” qualities. Poe’s effective use of personification, symbolism, foreshadowing, and doubling create a morbid tale leading to, and ultimately causing, the fall of (the house of) Usher.
In the short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allen Poe, diction is extensively used to create an air of suspense. Poe’s use of diction along with symbolism contributes to establishing a mood of despair. By using symbolic comparison between the Ushers and their house, the story’s suspense builds and the characteristics of the Ushers are portrayed. Poe’s cunning tactics are evident in the way he achieves a story of both suspense and horror.
Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Fall of the House of Usher.” The American Tradition in Literature. Ed. George Perkins and Barbara Perkins. ___________________: McGraw Hill., 2008. Pg-pg. Print.
In "The Fall of the house of Usher," Edgar Allen Poe creates suspense and fear in the reader. He also tries to convince the reader not to let fear overcome him. Poe tries to evoke suspence in the reader's mind by using several diffenent scenes. These elements include setting, characters, plot, and theme. Poe uses setting primarily in this work to create atmosphere. The crack in the house and the dead trees imply that the house and its surroundings are not sturdy or promising. These elements indicate that a positive outcome is not expected. The thunder, strange light, and mist create a spooky feeling for the reader. The use of character provides action and suspense in the story through the characters' dialogue and actions. Roderick, who is hypochondriac, is very depressed. He has a fearful apperance and his senses are acute. This adds curiosity and anxiety. The narrator was fairly normal until he began to imagine things and become afraid himself. Because of this, the audience gets a sense that evil is lurking. Madeline is in a cataleptic state. She appears to be very weak and pail. Finally, when she dies, she is buried in a vault inside of the mansion. In this story, the plot consists of rising events, conflict, climax, and resolution. The rising events include the parts in the story when the narrator first arrives at the house, meets Roderick, and hears about Roderick's and Madeline's problems. Madeline's death and burial are part of the conflict. At this point, Roderick and the narrator begin to hear sounds throughout the house. The sounds are an omen that an evil action is about to occur. The climax is reached when Madeline comes back from the dead and she and her twin brother both die. Finally, the resolution comes when the narrator escapes from the house and turns around to watch it fall to the ground. The theme that Edgar Allen Poe is trying to convey is do not let fear take over your life because it could eventually destory you.
The Fall Of The House of Usher is a terrifying tale of the demise of the Usher family, whose inevitable doom is mirrored in the diseased and evil aura of the house and grounds. Poe uses elements of the gothic tale to create an atmosphere of terror. The decaying house is a metaphor for Roderick Usher’s mind, as well as his family line. The dreary landscape also reflects his personality. Poe also uses play on words to engage the reader to make predictions, or provide information. Poe has also set the story up to be intentionally ambiguous so that the reader is continually suspended between the real and the fantastic.
In the story “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Poe presents the history of the end of an illustrious family. As with many of Poe’s stories, setting and mood contribute greatly to the overall tale. Poe’s descriptions of the house itself as well as the inhabitants thereof invoke in the reader a feeling of gloom and terror. This can best be seen first by considering Poe’s description of the house and then comparing it to his description of its inhabitants, Roderick and Madeline Usher.
The Depiction of Fear in The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
If there is one thing that is widely agreed upon in regards to Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” it is surely the fact that the short story is one of the greatest ever written. The very words that Poe selects and the manner in which he pieced them was nothing short of phenomenal. This however, is pretty much all that people are able to agree upon. Indeed, to almost everyone who reads it sees the story as great, but for different reasons. In a way the tale can be compared to a psychiatrist’s inkblots. While everyone may be looking at the same picture, they all see different things. What mainly gives “The Fall of the House of Usher” this quality is the double meanings and symbols Poe seems to use throughout.