The Fall Of The House Of Usher

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.

An analytical essay of “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and “Where is Here?”

“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.

Summaries The Fall of the House of Usher - A man, called by his friend Roderick Usher, seeks out the House of Usher. Upon his arrival, he is astonished by the look of the house. He enters in, finding his friend in despair. Roderick and his sister are each suffering from disease. Roderick tells the narrator that the house is sentient.

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.

Settings in stories make up the world that characters live in. It sets the tone and mood for readers to feel as they read. Two short stories that have similar plots, but are from different genres are “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “House Taken Over.” “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe seeks to evoke a gothic mood from the description of the house to leave readers in suspense, while “House Taken Over” by Julio Cortazar focuses on a lighter, realistic view of everyday life.

The Fall of the House of Usher and Where is Here, are two short stories that have similar settings. They are similar because for one, the authors were both dark, and mysterious, which would mean that they enjoyed dark and mysterious things. So in return, they're writings came out to be dark and mysterious. One of the similarities between the settings of the two short stories is that they were both written in the 1800's, so all of the houses were much more extravagant, and much more detail, so houses the characters are living in are very magnificent. Another similarity between the two is where the stories take place; in the 1800's, where if you did anything remotely bad, you were sinned for the rest of your life. The last similarity between the setting of the short stories is the characters in the stories. In each of the stories a visitor shows up, and is somewhat forced to help in completing a task with the main character that they came to visit.

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"

Deteriorating towns are generally filled with a mere handful of inhabitants still clinging to whatever life they used to have. Houses fall apart. Quality of life decreases. People become unstable due to their inability to provide for themselves and their families. This has been seen all over: the towns become relics and the people become charity cases. When the going gets tough the tough get going; however, those inhabitants who choose to stay rewrite their endings. Edgar Allan Poe’s use of imagery portraying decay in “The Fall of the House of Usher” serves to set up the final fate of the two main characters.

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.

To begin with, in the movie “The Fall of the House of Usher” triggered controversy between Roderick Usher and Philip Winthrop. Philip Winthrop had long waited to seek his beloved Madeline Usher, but it turned a generous experience into a horrible situation. As Roderick Usher came to find that his sister was going to be engaged with Philip, he became outraged and immediately had to plan a way to brake the

In Edgar Allen Poe’s short story: “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Poe perfectly exemplifies his main principle that everything in the story must contribute to a single effect. As a result of this method, everything in the short story is specifically chosen to develop fear and terror in the minds of the reader through the use of mystery and gothic writing. The narrator’s initial reaction to the house of Usher introduces an eerie, gothic mood to the story as Poe is trying to develop a setting of mystery and fear. As the narrator approaches the house, it’s evening time and he feels a strange atmosphere developing around him.

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.