The Fall Of The House Of Usher Analysis

A transformation is a thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance. This can relate to the mind or the actual physical appearance of something. Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. These two words can be closely related when it comes to being scared. In "Fall of the House of Usher," by Edgar Allen Poe, a reader becomes scared because the mind is transformed. In "House Taken Over," by Julio Cortázar, a simple house transforms into something mysterious. In "Where is Here?" by Joyce Carol Oates, the minds of family members transform and create a sense of terror. Transformation plays a role in stories meant to scare us by changing something in the story to create a suspenseful or mysterious outcome.

The short stories “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe and “House Taken Over” by Julio Cortazar are two well known works of literature that encompass unique literary styles. Poe utilizes Gothic literature in his story, a style of writing that incorporates elements of darkness, gloom, drama, and intense descriptions. On the other hand, Cortazar uses Magical Realism and its realistic characters, setting, and fantastic and unusual events to tell his tale. Despite the two being completely different genres, they share many similar traits, specifically relating to fear.

“Fear is not real. It is the product of thoughts you create. Danger is very real, but fear is only a choice.” Fear is not something that is always real, such as when Usher was scared but there was nothing to fear yet, but the danger at the end of the story, especially for Ushers friend, was something to fear for. In the Gothic Literature short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe, the setting is somber and creates an illusion of darkness. On the other hand, “House Taken Over” by Julio Cortazar, portrays the idea of magical realism in, which setting is more realistic and less gloomy. Although Gothic Literature and Magical Realism are similar, there are also many differences, especially in their settings.

Transformation plays a role in stories meant to scare us by playing with our imagination safety and mood of a story. Imagination appears in both Edgar Allan Poe’s, gothic fiction story “The Fall of the House of Usher,” by Usher’s isolated environment and in Joyce Carol Oates gothic literature story “Where is Here?,” by foreseeing who people are. Transformation also plays a role by it assists knowing our own selves are safe in a scary situation. This is shown in, “ Why do Some Brains Enjoy Fear?,” by Allegra Ringo and in “ House Taken Over,” by Julio Cortazar. Transformation plays with our imagination and our safety it also plays a role in the mood and setting. This appears in , “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and “The Dream Collector,”

Edgar Allan Poe used fear to attract his readers into his gothic world. Poe realized that fear intrigues as well as frightens, and sew it as a perfect motif for many of his stories, particularly The Fall of the House of Usher. Poe emphasized the mysterious, desolate, and gloomy surroundings throughout the story to set up the fear that got the reader involved. Then he extended the fear to the characters in order to reveal the importance of facing and overcoming fear. Poe suggested in the story that the denial of fears can lead to madness and insanity. This has clearly shown through the weakening of Roderick Usher's mind and the resulting impact on the narrator of the story.

Another theme that Poe explores in The Fall Of The House Of Usher is fear. It is fear that drives the story, fear that traps the narrator, and eventually fear that kills Roderick Usher. Poe foreshadows the paradox of Roderick’s fear early in the story: “There can be no doubt that the consciousness of the rapid increase of my superstition…is the paradoxical law of all sentiments having terror as a basis.” Roderick Usher is quoted as saying “I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect--in terror." This means that he is not afraid of death, but of fear itself. And it is this fear of fear that eventually leads to his death, when Madeline ‘returns from the dead’ and scares him to death.

I just just glanced through my phone, swiping quickly to going through the photos of everyone’s snapchat story. But one word caught my eye: fire; it caught my eye but I did not really think about it afterwards. Several hours later however, I was with my friends working on our english essay when all of a sudden, I look up to see what looked like an enormous blanket of brown dust staining the clear blue sky. There was a distinct line between the perfectly blue sky and the disgusting smoke from the fire and this transformation that occurred so out of the blue causing both shock and awe from me and my friends. Transformations play a role in stories meant to scare us by creating an atmosphere of discomfort and uncertainty because the characters are unable to control the situation around them. Through the short stories of “The Fall of the House of Usher”, “House Taken Over”, and “Where is Here”, the authors of those stories all elicit an atmosphere of fear through the combined transformations of setting, mood, and characters. “The Fall of the House of Usher” change occurs at the climax of the story where Roderick Usher falls into insanity. “House Taken Over’ changes when the mysterious intruders fully overtake the house and the siblings are forced to flee. In “Where is Here” the stranger leaves the home which causes the house to fade in color, draining it of life.

     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.

As with many of Edgar Allan Poe's pieces, "The Fall of the House of Usher" falls within the definition of American Gothic Literature. According to Prentice Hall Literature, American Gothic Literature is characterized by a bleak or remote setting, macabre or violent incidents, characters being in psychological or physical torment, or a supernatural or otherworldly involvement (311). A story containing these attributes can result in a very frightening or morbid read. In all probability, the reason Poe's stories were written in this fashion is that his personal life was fraught with depression, internal agony, and despair. Evidently this is reflected in "The Fall of the House of Usher." Conjointly, Edgar Allan Poe's "The

The narrator comes to the House to aid his dying friend, Roderick Usher. As he arrives at the House he comes upon an “aura of vacancy and decay… creating a pathologically depressive mood” (Cook). The state of the House is daunting to the narrator – he describes it with such features as “bleak walls”, “eye-like windows”, “rank sedges”, “decayed trees”, and “an utter depression of the soul”. These images foreshadow a less than pleasant future for the narrator and his dear friend Roderick. Poe continues to foreshadow the narrators turn of events with a description of the House’s “dark” and “comfortless” furniture. The House becomes a living hell for the narrator as he watches Roderick’s condition evolve and struggles to understand the mystery tying unfortunate events together. However, as the narrator gradually becomes more enveloped in Roderick and the House’s malady, he seems to develop a malady of his own. While the narrator’s illness is less prominent than that of Roderick and his sister Lady Madeline, the sicknesses are one in the same.

In the story “ The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe, has an American romanticism with its characters. Edgar Allan Poe is considered a Dark Romanticism because of the way he writes his poems and short stories centered around the concept of evil human nature, darkness, and death. Roderick and Madeline Usher were said to be related during the middle of the story; they were twins. It explained how they were sick, Roderick had a mental disorder and Madeline was physically sick. As the narrator enters the desolate house, he finds both Roderick and his sister in a severe state of depression and they both appear sick like. The narrator tries to make Roderick feel better, but Roderick wouldn’t budge. Roderick thinks that the house is making him sick and making him to appear crazy.

Throughout history, various works of literature compelled the readers to feel a specific way. The authors used different techniques to illustrate emotions toward their audience. Specifically, Edgar Allan Poe, author of The Fall of the House of Usher, uses literary elements, such as imagery, characterization and word choice, to portray the build up the sense of horror.

In the short story, "The Fall of the House of Usher," by Edgar Allen Poe, setting is used extensively to do many things. The author uses it to convey ideas, effects, and images. It establishes a mood and foreshadows future events. Poe communicates truths about the character through setting.

In The Fall of the House of Usher, the narrator and his friend, Roderick Usher, are living in a mysterious, dark house. The paragraph starts off with a description of a powerful gust of wind attacking the house. Beginning with “impetuous fury” makes the reader think of natural disasters and destruction, maybe even a feeling of being attacked. The sentence however has a rhythm, the words “ impetuous”, “gust”, and “us” all end in a long sounded s, correlating the sound of a snake. This also brings a bad connotation to the sentence, due to the idea that snakes are considered malicious.

Literature can be defined as written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic value. In the short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher” written by Edgar Allen Poe, Usher is a senile middle aged man who invites an old friend to his gothic mansion. While arriving the narrator notices mysterious events beginning to happen. Also, in “House Taken Over” written by Julio Cortazar, siblings find themselves in post WWII Argentina trying to avoid a dangerous entity manifesting and taking over their house. Gothic Style uses the power of suggestion and implication when depicting the supernatural, whereas Magical Realism arouses fear and concern in its audience by including supernatural events in modern society.