The Fall Of The House Of Usher Analysis

“The pervading subject of death has not been closely enough linked to the themes of fear and madness” (Frank, 314). As Usher attempts to rid of his twin half, Lady Madeline, he is essentially signing his death. As life and death brings division to them, Lady Madeline will eventually reemerge, and fear will strike Usher in a way he would never expect as she could be heard her from her grave, eventually falling upon Usher.

Mr. Usher represents the mind to her body and suffers from the mental counterpart of his physical illness, Mr. Usher inability to distinguish fantasy from reality resembles his sister’s physical weakness. The narrator knows little about the house of usher and is to visit the mansion in many years. “ I had been passing alone, on horseback...” (1) This basically saying how it has been many years that they haven’t seen the house and it looks very old and dull,

The narrator only ends up at the house of Usher because he was friends with Usher when they were young. Upon receiving the letter from his childhood friend, the narrator felt the urgency in Usher’s tone and immediately went to assist him. The narrator was “indeed his only personal friend” and Usher hoped that the narrator’s presence would help provide “some alleviation of his malady” (Poe). Once at the house of Usher the narrator did everything he knew how to help Usher, but nothing could fully help Usher’s superstitious mind.

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.

First, in “The Fall of the House of Usher” the author uses the transformation of Roderick Usher to create an

The mouldy, rotting, brown house stood in front of Emily, only fear keeping her feet planted to the ground. Moaning and creaking noises being projected from the house. The grass was damp from the evening fog and every time she took a step the mud squelched. The bottom step squeaked as she applied pressure with her foot, she let out a sigh of relief as the old structure hadn’t swallowed her up. The door, slightly off colour from the rest of the house, loomed over her like a giant as he reached for the brass door handle. A shiver ran through her body like an electric current, the musty smell of a house that had been long abandoned filled Emily’s nose. It was dim and uninviting. The furniture dusty and old, looking as if it would crumble to dust if she was to touch it. Mould ate away at

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.

Another story told in the first-person, “Fall of the House of Usher” is told from the perspective of an unnamed narrator, as he visits a childhood friend, Roderick Usher. The only other major character in the story is Madeline Usher, Roderick’s twin sister. The story takes place in Roderick’s manor, which has fallen into a state of extreme disrepair. The narrator takes note of this dilapidation, and the estate’s condition becomes a key theme in the story. Roderick’s quarters are dimly lit, with barely any light coming in through the windows. Later in the story, a severe storm hits, and the Narrator is in his room as the estate weathers it.

Roderick Usher is a victim of circumstance. The House he has known his whole life seems to have turned against him. Poe

Poe’s imagery also achieves specificity, which shows how madness and insanity are connected with evil. "An atmosphere which had no affinity with the air of heaven, but which had reeked up from the decayed trees, and the gray wall, and the silent tarn - a pestilent and mystic vapour, dull, sluggish, faintly discernible, and leaden-hued" (Poe). Poe, or the narrator, describes the mansion in a dark and gloomy tone. The imagery gives the reader a sense of

The Fall of the House of Usher is another one of Edgar Allen Poe’s mysterious short stories that leave the audience with many unanswered questions. The narrator arrives at the House of Usher that is owned by his childhood friend Roderick Usher whom he wishes to help. Roderick Usher isn't actually diagnosed with any sort of definite mental disorder although we do know something isn’t right in his mind. Along with that, he is utterly and extremely scared of fear itself which leads him to believe that he may indeed die of the fear that he is filled with. Roderick’s twin sister, Madeline, suffers from catalepsy and has seizures frequently. One day, Roderick tells the narrator that she is dead when really she is just in the midst of a seizure.

In the majority of Poe’s writings, the settings are dark, dreary and bloodcurdling. In “The Fall of the House of Usher” the Usher House is described to have a lackluster atmosphere. It is stated in the text, “I looked upon the scene before me –upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain –upon the bleak walls –upon the vacant eye-like windows –upon a few rank sedges –and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees –with an utter depression of soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation…” The account of the mansion makes the reader envision the house to be old, bland and simply in meager condition. Similarly, in “The Cask of Amontillado”, the plot unfolds in the catacombs of Paris. Poe describes the crypts as Montresor and Fortunato walk

The narrator takes a moment to explain how Usher is acting rather odd. “In the manner of my friend...was struck with an incoherence, [and] an inconsistency” Said quote was explaining how Usher’s isolation is aiding to more problems such as crippled mental health. The Minister’s Black Veil’s Mr Hooper was isolated by the community. Mr. Hooper was visited and invited to many things. “...Strange and bewildered looks repaid him for his courtesy” (Hawthorne 301). The churchgoers were overwhelmed with fear and confusion, and that lead to the isolation between them and Mr.Hooper. Mr. Hooper was also isolated from his lover, Elizabeth. “Do not desert me, may this veil must be between our souls”(Hawthorne 305). Elizabeth is fearful of the unknown and decides to vacate her relationship rather then finding out. When isolation has occurs is starts to eat away at the mind.

Poe is notoriously known for his character’s traits being a little crazy. His characters are repeatedly known for being a little dark at times. Poe stated, “...he could only wear garments of certain texture; the odors of all flowers were oppressive; his eyes were tortured by even a faint light”(Page 417 Line 174-176). Usher is in a pretty dreary

The narrator is affected by the gloomy atmosphere of the Usher mansion. He is "sucked in" to Usher's "dream world," the world he created after living alone in his dismal house for years. Usher's house