Fall Of Usher

When writing “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Poe used the setting outside of the mansion to illustrate the theme of the fear of death. From the outset, the Rodrick Usher’s home is portrayed in a way that gives the reader a feeling of alarm. For example, the narrator mentions the house gives him a feeling of “insufferable gloom” (Usher 1). By pointing this out, the reader begins to feel on edge as the connotation of “gloom” is unwelcoming and distressing. The home is also said to have “vacant eye like windows” (Usher 1) which make the narrator

     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.

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 Fall of the House of Usher” the story starts with the narrator saying that he is overcome with a feeling of gloom upon first seeing the house. He compares the windows to vacant eyes. The narrator goes on to tell how the house appears to him but then tries to explain it away as his overactive imagination.

The house of the usher had a sad and tragic ending. Madeline’s death was unhuman and very sad. The storm was very traumatic and destructive. Roderick mental illness caused unfortunate events and affected everyone around him. The ushers was the cause of the destruction of the house was a tragedy because Madeline’s death caused the house to become gloomy, Roderick illness caused problems, and the storm destroyed the

As the narrator reads a letter sent to him by Roderick Usher, it is revealed that it, "... spoke of acute bodily illness- of a mental disorder that had oppressed him...,"(Poe,294) and, having had a past friendship to Roderick, felt the necessity to go and help his friend back to sanity. By agreeing to help his friend, the narrator becomes the hero of this story and continues to act as such by helping Roderick recover and never leaving his side. Unknown to the narrator, Roderick is unintentionally the villain of the story by stating,"... his intention of preserving her corpse for a fortnight...,"(304) in one of their family vaults oblivious to the fact that Madeline was not dead. By deciding to lock her in a family vault, Roderick unintentionally condemned his sister to death by trapping her there with no food, light, or water for two weeks. After locking Madeline away in the vault, the narrator is interrupted when reading to Roderick by a, "... most unusual screaming or grating sound...,"(308) and moments later Madeline turns up alive but tragically dies moments later.

In the beginning of the story when Roderick Usher is introduced to the reader he comes off as quite creepy. Poe says that his skin is very white and ill looking. Roderick explains that his sister Madeline is ill. The reader is told that Roderick comes from a family of inbreds which is an abnormal twist that we couldn’t expect from any author other than Poe.

The narrator states, "I know not how it was—but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit” (702). It must also be noted that the narrator makes a point to establish the connection between the family and the house very early on in the story. He contemplates "the perfect keeping of the character of the premises with the accredited character of the people, and while speculating upon the possible influence which the one, in the long lapse of centuries, might have exercised upon the other" (703). This makes the reader see the house and character of Usher connected to one another. However, unlike

The insane characters in the fall of the house of usher are Madeline Usher representing the soul, the narrator take the place of the conscious mind, and Roderick Usher as the unconscious mind in the story. Madeline Usher the soul of the story is the twin sister of Roderick Usher. Madeline was kept in a vault after turning into a catatonic state. She was ghostlike; she reappeared and made the narrator

`Picture an eerie, yet intriguing house on a hill set beside a dark and scary lake. In the story, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, that’s exactly where our story takes place. Poe’s short story is strong in a mysterious tone; thus leading to the themes of fear and madness. “The Fall of the House of Usher” tells a terrifying story, and the narrator is present for the most intense parts. The way the author feels throughout the story is described very well when Poe writes, “There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart.

“The Fall of the House of Usher (1939)”, arguably Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous short story, is a tale centered around the mysterious House of Usher and its equally indiscernible inhabitants. These subjects are plagued with physical and mental degradation – the Usher siblings suffer from various abnormal ailments and unexplained fears, while the house itself seems to be tethering on the edge of collapse. The gothic elements in the story are distributed generously, and the plot is increasingly ridden with the supernatural as it progresses.

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,

Many of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories incorporated elements of Romantic and Gothic Literature. The Fall of the House of Usher had many Gothic elements in the anecdote. The story takes place in a castle and has many overwrought emotions from a set of siblings. There are a number of inexplicable events, and a woman in distress because of her family’s expectations. Poe also threw in Romantic elements, such as imagination and looking to the past for wisdom, because Roderick Usher must pursue his family’s footsteps to keep the family name alive.

Roderick suffers from a nervous illness which manifests itself both in his appearance and his temper. We soon find out that his sister, Madeline, is also wasting away and has an unknown sickness, the symptoms of which include cataleptic attacks. Soon after, Madeline dies and Roderick entombs her in a vault placed where there once had been a donjon-keep, with the narrator’s willing aid. He is quick to do so and does not take into consideration the fact that she might actually be still alive, which, as we will find out, is really the case.