The Fall Of The House Of Usher

In “Fall of the House of Usher”, Edgar Allan Poe uses parallels between Roderick Usher and the House to illustrate how one affects the other. The House particularly compares to the physical appearance with Roderick Usher. To illustrate, Rodericks physical appearance is crumbling, much like the Houses “crumbling condition of the individual stones” (Poe 323). With human like qualities, the Houses “vacant eyelike windows” are a direct parallel to Rodericks “large eye, liquid and luminous” (Poe 322-324). In other words, the Usher family is so connected to their home that Roderick begins to physically look like the worn down, dark and mysterious House that is his abode. Not only does the House have similar physical parallels, but Rodericks

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?”

All these things put together and a few others help to connect the house to Roderick and Lady Madeline. When the narrator first sees Roderick after a long period of time, he thinks that he resembles that of a corpse. Then Roderick tells him the reason for his appearance, why he looks so bad. He said he had an illness that was a “morbid acuteness of the senses.” The word morbid, when used anywhere, has very strong meaning and it is of the negative type. He uses the word tortured when he is describing his eyesight and says that even the slightest sound is almost unbearable. Thinking about having all of these symptoms put together is a very bad picture to paint in your mind. His condition, in this case, is very comparable to that of the condition of the house.

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 are many mysterious happenings that go on throughout the story between the characters Roderick Usher and the narrator. Throughout the story, Edgar Allan Poe uses themes such as madness and insanity to connect the house back to Roderick Usher. In the “Fall of The House of Usher”, the narrator goes through many different experiences when arriving to the house. The narrator’s experiences start out as almost unnoticeable in the beginning, turn into bigger ones right before his eyes, and end up becoming problems that cause deterioration of the mind and the house before the narrator even decides to do anything helpful for Roderick and his mental illness. In “The Fall of The

Poe’s use of play on words contributes to the sense of confusion and disarray. For example, Usher, is not only the family name, but it could also be interpreted as the exact definition of usher, which means to show or guide someone to a certain place. This is what Roderick did when he invited the narrator to the house. Roderick “ushered” him into a whole new world of darkness and deception. This may explain the reason of the house’s downfall. There was a compassionate man that entered the house, which led to an imbalance. The house, almost like a person, could not handle the change within and it crumbled into the ground.

Roderick Usher sends his childhood friend a letter, crying for company and good memories. As his friend passes the dark tarn and nears the House of Usher, all that is seen is a land of the dark and decaying. The Usher family within “The Fall of the House of Usher,” have lived in the house for generations, a house at one time filled “by good angels, (Being a) radiant palace-reared its head.”

In the story “The Fall of the House of Usher” there are three characters the narrator, Roderick Usher, and Madeline Usher. The story starts with the narrator arriving at the Usher family home where both Roderick and Madeline live, Roderick is both physically and mentally ill and Madeline is just mentally ill. The Usher family

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.

Edgar Allan Poe wrote, "The Fall of the House of Usher", using characterization, and imagery to depict fear, terror, and darkness on the human mind. Roderick and his twin sister, Madeline, are the last of the all time-honored House of Usher (Jacobs and Roberts, pg. 462). They are both suffering from rather strange illnesses, which may be attributed to the intermarriage of the family. Roderick suffers from "a morbid acuteness of the senses"(464), while Madeline's illness is characterized by " a settled apathy, a gradual wasting away of the person, and frequent all though transient affections of a partly cataleptical character"(465) which caused her to lose consciousness and feeling. The

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

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.

Hence, Poe appropriates a setting that seems to contaminate the characters. Just as the atmosphere and landscape seem translated into the characters, the house, as another primary feature of setting, functions as a symbol for the Usher family. The narrator even mentions initially that “House of Usher” had come to represent both family and home. Therefore, the house itself can be seen as an embodiment of the family. Poe emphasizes this symbolism by personifying the house, providing it with the anatomy of humans: “eye-like windows” and clothing: a “veil.” Moreover, the house is deteriorating just as the family is. The Ushers, Roderick and his sister Madeline, have no relatives, only themselves, and both are suffering with unusual illness. Finally, after Roderick and Madeline die, likewise the house completely breaks apart, characterizing the fate of the family.

“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.