The House and the Ushers One of the central themes underlying the short story, The Fall of the House of Usher, is that of the nature of the house. The way it is described and the way it is so mysterious. Another central theme about this story is the nature of the people that live in the house. They are portrayed very much in the same manner throughout the story. Thus, they have several similarities with each other. All of which are of a bad feeling, showing how bad things are for the people and the house. These similarities are very well laid out in the story and are, I believe, meant to be something to be considered when reading it. At the beginning of the story there is a very negative feeling being attached to the appearance of the house. He uses a couple of things to try and make you feel negatively about this place. He used words and phrases such as: “insufferable gloom,” “vacant,” “black and lurid,” and the “rank sedges” were mentioned too. These are obviously there to give a sort of a bad connotation, or bad karma, to the house. He speaks of how the house has a “wild inconsistency” and how each individual stone is starting to decay and fall apart. Suggesting that the house has many problems, all problems that could possibly lead to the destruction of a house. Some accounts even take it as having a kind of gothic feeling to it. Which, after reading the descriptions about i...
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
For the stories “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The House Taken Over”, there is similarities in these stories. In the “The Fall of House Of Usher”, The story begins with the unnamed narrator arriving at the house of his friend, Roderick
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.
Imagery in "The Fall of the House of Usher" The description of the landscape in any story is important as it creates a vivid imagery of the scene and helps to develop the mood. Edgar Allan Poe is a master at using imagery to improve the effects of his stories. He tends to use the landscapes to symbolize some important aspect of the story. Also, he makes use of the landscape to produce a supernatural effect and to induce horror. In particular, Poe makes great use of these tools in "The Fall of the House of Usher." This story depends on the portrayal of the house itself to create a certain atmosphere and to relate to the Usher family. In "The Fall of the House of Usher," Edgar Allan Poe uses the landscape to develop an atmosphere of horror and to create corollary to the Usher family. Poe uses the life-like characteristics of the house as a device for giving the house a supernatural presence. The house is described as having somewhat supernatural characteristics. The windows appear to be "vacant" and "eye-like" (1462). The strange nature of the house is further explained as around the mansion, "…there hung an atmosphere peculiar to themselves and their immediate vicinity." (1462). This demonstrates that the house and its surroundings have an unusual and bizarre existence. Upon entering the house, the narrator views some objects, such as the tapestries on the walls and the trophies, fill him with a sense of superstition. He describes the trophies as "phantasmagoric" (1462). He further explains that the house and the contents were the cause of his feelings.
To of the most striking descriptions used to portray the house are those of the windows and the fissure. He describes the windows as “vacant [and] eye-like.” With this description the narrator effectively anthropomorphizes the house. Thus he almost gives the status of character to the house. The other outstanding description is that of the fissure. It is described as “a barely perceptible fissure, which [extends] from the roof of the building in front, [making] its way down the wall in a zigzag direction, until it [becomes] lost in the sullen waters of the tarn.” It is interesting to note that the narrator spends so much time describing a feature that he describes as barely perceptible.
Symbolism and incest are both very apparent themes throughout the story of "The Fall of the House of Usher", by Edgar Allan Poe, and helps us to better understand the events that occur. Poe uses his symbolism to reveal character traits, foreshadow future events and helps his reader to understand the events that occur throughout the story. Throughout the story we realize that the relationship between brother and sister is not a normal sibling bond. We also see that the siblings themselves are not normal in all the aspects of a human being.
The technique in which every word, character, and aspect in a story is used to convey themes is recognized as, single effect. Throughout “ The Fall of the House of Usher” this technique is used repeatedly. Edgar Allan Poe is often found using this technique, he was able to portray multiple themes in a way deeper than just words. Through the use of single effect readers were able to visualize, and actually understand the reading much further than just on paper. The use of single effect is what has made this story a phenomenon throughout the years. Each detail in the story, Poe used to build up different themes. The main themes conveyed were fear, madness, and isolation.
In “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe, the death of Madeline and Roderick Usher represents the ending of something, and in this specific case, the ending of a generation. Throughout the story, it is made very clear that Madeline and Roderick are the last living people of the Usher generation. Roderick Usher explicitly states on page four, “‘Her decease,’ he said, with a bitterness which I can never forget, ‘would leave him (him the hopeless and the frail) the last of the ancient race of the Ushers.’” Therefore, when they both die at the end, it is clear that it is the end of a generation. The ending of their generation creates a depressing and serious feeling through this story due to the fact that the Usher’s will be no more.
The human condition, a concept prevalent in several pieces of literature, encompasses the emotional, moral, questioning, and observant nature of humans. This concept is often used by authors to emphasize the characteristics that set humans apart from other living creature. Edgar Allan Poe’s dark fantasy piece “The Fall of the House of Usher” perfectly depicts the human condition as it conveys how fear and over-thinking can control one’s actions and life.
The Fall of the House of Usher is definitely a piece written in Poe's usual style; a dark foreboding tale of death and insanity filled with imagery, allusion, and hidden meaning. It uses secondary meanings and underlying themes to show his beliefs and theories without actually addressing them. It convinces us without letting us know we're being convinced, and at the same time makes his complex thoughts relatively clear.
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.
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.
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.
Mental illness has affected characters in numerous forms of literature, including movies, narratives, and short stories. The use of mental illness in any form of literature helps readers expand their thoughts of how mental illness in different texts affects characters and their environment. Two works of literature that explore the theme of mental illness are William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" and Edgar Allen Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher." "A Rose for Emily" talks about the pressures of society and how they can affect a person's mental health. The "Fall of the House of Usher," on the other hand, creates a gothic atmosphere which also involves the main character suffering from a mental illness. In summary, both stories show the effects of mental illness.
The recent attacks in Paris shows that the phrase “Out of many, one” is not true. Innocent people were attacked without a warning, the people who attacked them had no right to but had attacked anyways. The world is supposed to be unified but some places live in terror. Another recent attack was in San Bernardino which was a horrendous scene. If we were all united as one, why do people