Ambiguous Elements in Edgar Allan Poe's Fall of the House of Usher

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Ambiguous Elements in Edgar Allan Poe's Fall of the House of Usher

As vague as Edgar Allan Poe could be at times with the theme of one of his stories, The Fall of the House of Usher contains a theme which is decipherable with little energy expended. The story can be interpreted as an artist who becomes detached from the external world and therefore loses his ability to create art. This also results in his ultimate demise.

We first see evidence of this very early in the story. The narrator receives a letter from Mr. Roderick Usher, in which he describes “an acute bodily illness—of a mental disorder which oppressed him...” We learn later that Usher has remained with his sister in the manor that they have occupied for years. The narrator describes the house (and the family therein) as having “no affinity with the air of heaven, but which had reeked up from the decayed trees, and the gray wall, and the silent tarn...” This can be taken as a separation from the Ushers and the external world. They are made completely out of the house and its surrounding property with no influence from the outside.

Roderick Usher, an artist, has been affected by the distance that is between him and the external in another way. Because of hereditary affliction caused by intermarriage in his family, he has developed an illness that prevents him from listening to art in the form of music, created by anything but stringed instruments. Any music created in any other form results in a painful irritation. This limitation can be seen as a minute example of the main theme that still conveys the same message.

The ultimate demise of the House of Usher and its connected members is the second part of the theme. A separation from the external world will result in death. The fragments in the house that were so miniscule in the beginning of the story can be likened to the fragmented connection between Usher and the external world. As the story progresses the cracks grow and result in the collapse of the house and of the death of Roderick Usher.

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