Wealth or Health?
American Romanticism has been around for quite some time now, having made an incline in popularity in the early 1800’s. Two very popular stories associated with American Romanticism include: “The Minister’s Black Veil” published in 1832, and the “Fall of the House of Usher” which was published in 1839. These two stories correlate nicely and contrast evenly in the theme of American Romanticism, such as the many supernatural elements both stories posses.
From the beginning, you know that Roderick Usher is extensively rich. Not once has he ever experienced the feeling of any kind of labor simply due to the fact that he was born into a wealthy family. Roderick Usher lived in his family's prosperous home along side his sister. Reverend Hooper, on the other hand, is far from rich. The Reverend knows what it is like to work, for he does so everyday. He receives a minimal pay of what reverends typically get and lived within the chapel of the village.
Another difference between these two men is their relationship status. Reverend Hooper was engaged up until he started wearing the black veil and would do so until death. His fiancee left him when he made the decision to start wearing the veil because she did not understand his motives behind it. Roderick
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Roderick Usher was rather secluded, the only people he interacted with were his doctors that helped maintain his sisters well being, and his sister. Not much interaction with the people of his society took place, he stuck to himself more than anything, until he communicated with one friend. Reverend Hooper, however, was very active in his community. He was well known in the village, connected with many, and went to multiple social events that took place. He was well respected and loved by his people, although they all faced the task as viewing him the same as before while he wore the veil upon his
Hooper may have seen his sin and may have been scared of the person he saw when he looked in the mirror. He realized the feeling that everyone else felt when they looked at him. Mr.Hooper would not take black veil off anywhere even when he was alone. He took the wearing of the veil so far that he even slept with it on. Mr. Hooper sacrificed his happiness, his marriage, his communication with the world all because of the black veil. He isolated himself from everyone else and set himself up for a lonely life filled with sadness. He said “This dismal shade must separate me from the world; even you, Elizabeth, can never come behind it!” (Hawthorne 242). He took the idea of secret sin farther than the normal person would and that is why he is such a romantic character.
Our source tells us that the Usher House was shrouded in gloom and misery, so much so that Roderick Usher believed his house was “sentient”. Usher, a slave to his terror and anxiety, spent his remaining days worried over the death of his
Due to the lack of social interaction between the two, literary expert Craig Howes believes the already mad Roderick now “draws the narrator into madness,” (Howes). Now that Roderick has become less sociable with the narrator and there is one less person in the house, the narrator lacks the social interactions required by most humans. He feels uneasy about the “corpse” they have entombed and begins to fear the initial dark and gloom of the house itself both inside and out.
Many people look at him in a strange way because that black veil usually represents a bad sign that is dark. Many people thought that he was wearing the black veil because he had killed someone or done some other bad and dark things. But Mr Hooper does not wear it because he killed someone. There is a Priest that is known to wear a black veil But he did not wear it because he killed someone in a bad way. He will wear it because he did kill someone, but it was unintentional, it was his friend and he killed him by accident and he felt really bad and sorry about it that he decided to wear a black veil for the rest of his life in memory of his friend that he will remember for the rest of his life. in ( Nathaniel Hawthorne 337) it introduces him wearing the black veil, and in ( Nathaniel Hawthorne 338 ) they explain the secret scene which it is not what people thought that it would be they were thinking a whole different thing. I personally was thinking a different bad reason why he was wearing that, I was thinking that he had killed someone.
In “The fall of the House of the Usher,” the theme is consuming death because of the way that Roderick allows the sickness of his sister to consume his own will to live. Although they both are the last two holding the blood line, Roderick cannot find it in himself to continue living his life as if nothing is holding him back. In contrast, “The Minister’s Black Veil,” conveys the topic of isolation, due to his efforts of concealing his face away from the world. One theme that both stories share is loss, in each story they both lose themselves. Roderick loses himself when he allows his sadness to take over him, and Hooper loses himself within the
First, in “The Fall of the House of Usher” the author uses the transformation of Roderick Usher to create an
James Hall Jr. is an American paleontologist and geologist who was widely recognized as Americas most well-known geologist during the 19th century. Hall was born in Hingham, Massachusetts on September 12th, 1811 and spent most of his childhood in this area of the US. Hall was fortunate to have a gifted teacher in his public school who stimulated his interest science. The teacher also had a very keen interest in nature which some believe think guided Hall into the world of earth sciences. Later, in his teenage years Hall was interested in attending a new college in Troy, New York which emphasized hands-on learning and “out of the box” thinking. Hall graduated which honors in 1832 and immediately started working out in the field all around New York state. Just 6 years later one of Hall’s most important surveys and scientific works was to commence.
The character Roderick Usher represents the unconscious mind. He really doesn’t have any common sense. Overtime, Roderick started having weird behaviors he wasn’t like how he used to be like the narrator had said. Also Roderick became restless and unstable because the burial of his sister Madeline. Roderick Ushers also represents the unconscious because
Roderick Usher’s unnamed illness causes him to be frightened of sounds, lights and smells. He believes that his family’s house is evil and alive. He is starting to suffer due to keeping his family's history of incest a secret from the rest of the world. His illness is more mental than physical, his nerves causes him to have extreme anxiety from keeping such a significant secret combined with his actual physical health due
Roderick has the vampire’s symptoms which are heightened senses and being overwhelmingly emotional and the looks of a vampire which are pale skin, long hair, and pale lips. Even with all this evidence, people still believe the Ushers aren’t vampires. As stated in the first paragraph, Poe never states if the Ushers have an actual illness or if they are vampires, but Poe leaves many clues hinting to us readers that the Ushers are vampires. The arguments between these choices may interest individuals in vampires as well. With all the evidence included in this essay, it is evident that the Ushers are
It seems that auditory hallucinations affect both Usher and the narrator. Then Roderick becomes unnerved and confesses that he heard feeble movements in his twin sister’s coffin – meaning that they buried her alive – and yet did not dare to say anything. But why didn’t he? It might be argued that Roderick and Madeline had an incestuous relationship and Usher was either afraid that his sister (who now suddenly can talk and move) would tell, or because he was tormented by the guilt of having engaged in such a relationship and wanted to bury it — literally. This statement may seem far-fetched but that could explain why “the entire family lay in the direct line of descent, and had always, with very trifling and very temporary variation, so lain”, and Madeline and Roderick’s health problems in
One of Roderick's fears was death. He was from a well-known and honored family, and he and his sister were the last of the long line of Usher descendants. His sister, Madeline, had been fighting a severe and long-continued illness for quite some time, which had added to much of Roderick's gloom. " Her decease, would leave him the last of the ancient race of the Ushers." Roderick seemed not only to fear the death of his sister and ultimately of himself, but also the uncertainty of the future. "I dread the events of the future, not only in themselves, but in their results. I shudder at the thought of any, even the most trivial incident, which may operate upon this intolerable agitation of soul."
We know little of his background, and we never even learn his name. He was childhood friends with Roderick Usher. He arrives on horseback at the house with the intention of helping Usher. Though he details precisely the nature of Usher's madness, it is suggested through the course of the narrative that he too may be losing his sanity. Indeed, given his terrified description of the ghastly house in the opening passages of the tale, the reader must wonder whether he was sane from the
Roderick Usher is a victim of circumstance. The House he has known his whole life seems to have turned against him. Poe
Family is a prevailing theme in this story. The tale essentially documents the demise of a family name. The Ushers have been a significant and reputable family: their house is of considerably large size, they are apparently well educated, and they have servants. On the other hand, they have not produced enough offspring in order for their lineage to persevere. Furthermore, Roderick claims that the nervous exhaustion he continually suffers is hereditary. Therefore,