Edgar Allen Poe has influenced many of the horror and gothic novels we read today through his works of dark romanticism, such as his popular short story “The Fall of the House of Usher”. In this story, the narrator goes to visit a friend to hopefully bring comfort to his strange mental ailments; and soon discovers that his ailments may be related to the house in which he resides. The story explores the ideas of fear, loneliness, friendship and family; and has the dark atmosphere typically attributed to Poe’s work. It is commonly believed that Poe was inspired to write this story by the events that occurred at the Hezekiah Usher House, although this can not be proven for certain. Due to the popularity of “The Fall of the House of Usher”, many …show more content…
The film also does not adequately portray the detail of Madeline’s emaciated frame that was described in Poe’s original short story, again due to the poor lighting that does not allow you to see much detail. A third part of Poe’s original short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” that “Graphic Classics” stays truer to than the Usher movie is the final scene where the narrator flees the house after Roderick and Madeline die, and watches it collapse. Poe was very descriptive of the fissure and collapsing house in the original short story, which is made clear by the line, “While I gazed, this fissure rapidly widened – there came a fierce breath of whirlwind – the entire orb of the satellite burst at once upon my sight – my brain reeled as I saw the mighty walls rushing asunder.” (333) The picture of this scene from “Graphic Classics” portrays the detail of the widening fisher very well, as it shows the moonlight shining through the fissure which is narrower at the bottom, but gets wider towards the top. The picture also clearly depicts the house collapsing by the fissure giving way, as well as the force created by the collapse …show more content…
Reed 4 Overall, it is clear that “Graphic Classics” is a much more accurate adaptation of “The Fall of the House of Usher” than the Usher movie due to its portrayal of facial expressions and emotion; as well as attention to detail. It explicitly captures the details laid out by Poe in his original short story, such as the blood and rips on Madeline’s dress, and the reactions of the characters as they hear the sound effect from the story through its unique style of illustration. It also accurately portrays the ending scene according to Poe’s short story, unlike the Usher movie which did not bother to include it at all. It is important that details such as these are accounted for when adapting a story, in order for the person reading or viewing it to fully understanding what is happening in the story and why. In conclusion, Edgar Allen Poe’s work has had a great influence on what we read today, but it must be accurately adapted with all of its details so that it does not lose its
about conveying these feelings to his readers and why it is so effective. Poe uses an
The Fall Of the House Of Usher is a short story written by Edgar Allen Poe in 1839. The short story is complexly written, with challenging themes such as identity and fear. Poe utilises many elements of the Gothic Tradition such as setting and supernatural elements to create a more mysterious story, and uses language to his advantage, employing adjective filled descriptions of literal elements that also serve as metaphors for other parts of the story.
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.
A Sense of Tension in The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
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.
Usher represents the inner self of Edgar A. Poe, he is the personality for which Poe knew, and possibly became. Poe quite possibly became Usher but he did not realize it until he re visited his inner self and mind. “Its proprietor, Roderick Usher, had been one of my boon companions in boyhood; but many years had elapsed since our last meeting” (236). Roderick Usher can represent Poe’s madness, Poe knew him in the past but finally along his journey he is coming to terms with his insanity. Edgar is excepting his madness although he still is frightened by the truth. “The writer spoke of acute bodily illness-of a mental disorder which oppressed him-and of an earnest desire to see me, as his best, and indeed his only personal friend” (236). Poe realized that his insanity did exist but he needed to address it and come to terms with it.
In the story "The Fall of the House of Usher" there is suspense and symbolism that can be written about, this story also provides many Gothic elements. In "The Fall of the House of Usher"
The “Fall of The House of The Usher” is a novel that gives the thrill of a family who has a troubled lifestyle. The story is told completely through one character, the narrator. The narrator is not given a name or any background information. The narrator is merely a door that opens to the reader to see the story clearly through his eyes. Throughout the story, the narrator slowly becomes a character of his own and he gets his own personality and thoughts. Him becoming his own character in the story shows his good reliability as a narrator. He starts to develop a horrific thoughts through the story and later as he leaves the house he is a changed person.
Roderick Usher is a victim of circumstance. The House he has known his whole life seems to have turned against him. Poe
and darkness. Poe used many of the real life tragedies he experienced as inspiration for
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
This abnormal phenomenon significantly affects the narrator and robs him of his rest. The faint sound of a spirit will only add to his inability to sleep through the storm. Distraught and scared by these events that he cannot rationalize, he decides desert his efforts of sleep and attempt to walk them away. As the narrator’s efforts to suppress his fears fail him he decides to read a story to his old friend Usher, by paranormal activity, the sounds that are written in the book begin to occur parallel in the Usher residence. He finds himself agitated “by a thousand conflicting sensations, in which wonder and extreme terror were predominant…” (Poe).
The Fall of the House of Usher is a story “of sickness, madness, incest, and the danger of unrestrained creativity. This is among Poe's most popular and critically-examined horror stories” (Gordon). For example if you were to close your eyes while someone was reading the story you would see the house “decaying” in your imagination (Poe). From the start of the story the narrator’s strange “insufferable gloom” is introduced. He notes the darkness of his surrounding (Gordon). The stories are very deeply described and felt.
Faithful to the principles of the author, the first detailed words of description of the setting announce the decadent character of the composition- “All the main lines of action are supported by a systematic elaboration of detail” (Robinson, 79). The Fall of the House of Usher begins with the description of the place where all the facts of the story will develop: “It was a dark and soundless day near the end of the year, and clouds were hanging low in the heavens… through country with little life or beauty; and in the early evening I came within view of the House of Usher” (Poe, 22). At exterior levels, the presence of a crack crosses the whole structure of the house: “a crack making its way from the top down the wall until it became lost in the dark waters of the lake.” (Poe, 23). The dark aspect is present in the obscure interiors of the house: “Dark covering hung upon the walls. The many chairs and tables had been used for a long,
Edgar Allan Poe was a fictional writer that astonished readers with his many mysterious poems and his tales of horror such as “The Raven”, “Annabelle Lee”, and “The Fall of the house of Usher”.