Both Poe and Oates have a gothic way of writing. It is obvious, after analyzing, that Oates is inspired by Poe’s writing but still has her own style. She has a similar mood in her story was Poe. They seem to almost make inanimate objects have emotions. In the stories “Where is Here” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” the settings groomy and the mood intensifies as the conflict comes to light.
In the beginning of the story “Where is Here” the setting outside is described as “chill, damp, deepening dusk” (Oates pg 349), this is different from Poe’s story “The Fall of the House of Usher” where he describes his opening scene setting as “dull, dark, and soundless” (Poe pg 297). In both stories the setting change to from the surroundings to the actually house. Both houses in the stories created an emotional roller coaster for the character.
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The narrator see the house of Usher the felt the insufferable gloom ; furthermore, he thinks the house has its was set of emotions and creates it own mood.
Oates also made the house invoke emotions and memories. In her story the memories that were invoked because of the house cause the mood to become mysterious, with a slight feeling of dread. As the stranger walk through the house, his mood changes, and so did the mood of the whole story. It went from a walk down memory lane to an uncanny happening.
This same mood was similar in “The Fall of the House of Usher”. The mood made it seem like something terrible was going to happen. The mood just intensified as the narrator continued moving through the house and finding out more about the Usher family. When the house of Usher got engulfed in water the mood become one of calm. The most interesting part of both stories is as the setting changes so does the mood of the whole
story. The Oates’ story the mood grantly gains to a climate, which occurs after the scene changes to inside the house. Unlike Poe, Oates story ends is complete mystery and have an mood of uncertainty and terror. In Poe’s story the mood when from peaceful and boring to a bone-chilling terror at an alarming right because the narrator sees the house. Major events that occur between him and the Ushers in the spine-chilling house so when it is destroyed so is the fearsome mood. Both writers had the mood of the story tie into the house, while still making the setting gloomy enough to make it a gothic piece of literacy.
The castles and mansions that provide the settings for traditional Gothic tales are full of grandeur, darkness, and decay. These settings are one of the most recognizable elements of traditional Gothic fiction. Setting is equally as important in modern Gothic literature as well. While the settings in the two stories, “Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe and “Where Is Here?” by Joyce Carol Oates, are incredibly different, they are also very similar.
When comparing the stories “The Fall of the House of Usher” written by Edgar Allen Poe and “The House Taken Over” by Julio Cortazar. The setting in both are in a creepy, big house with a gothic style to it, which makes it more creepy. Both of the authors were a dark and demented type. Both in their stories have a big, empty house with a few people in them, with either kids that are living alone or with grandparents. Also both stories have a sense of having something under their sleeve to hit us with.
From the onset of the story, it is apparent that Poe is employing a gothic theme upon his work. The narrator’s portrayal of the home of his longtime friend, Roderick Usher was as follows, “I looked upon the scene before me – upon the bleak walls – upon the vacant eye-like windows – upon a few rank sedges – and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees” (Poe, 75). T...
The setting is an important part of any story, whether it be a poem or a novel. The setting consists of all the places and/or things surrounding the character at any moment through any literary or visual media. A literary setting is often full of details and vivid imagery due to the lack of visual aids that are present in videos and movies. These details often take paragraphs to describe single settings to give the reader an imaginary vision of what the area would look like. Edgar Allan Poe is no exception to these rules and he clearly writes out the setting for his short stories and poems. Poe does an excellent job of using details to describe the setting of his stories and shows great care in choosing the wording of each description he makes to display his exact intentions for each descriptive setting. In the short story, “The Cask of Amontillado,” by Poe, the setting has a direct correlation with the mood in the story. The further into the story you read, the deeper and darker the surroundings of the two main characters get, just like the main plot of the story.
Gothic literature and magical realism are similar because they have a spooky feel to them. In Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where is Here” the brother believes that something or someone has moved into their house which happens multiple times in this story. Another instance is when the brother and the sister have to move out and leave all the belongs behind. TFor example, o prove the The theory of someone takexing over the house on a page page thirty-nine paragraph six it states that “...when I heard something in the library or dining room” (#). Tthis showsn that the family is hearing something strange in the rooms. However, in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” is indistinguishable because it takes place in a house and something weird
The Pit and the Pendulum and the Fall of the House of Usher are both dark and both have a gothic writing style to them. Edgar Allen Poe is known for his gothic writing style. In the Fall of the House of Usher he uses dark, gloomy, and suspenseful verbs. In the Pen and the Pendulum he uses suspense and a dark atmosphere.
Poe begins his with a description of the setting. It was a “..dull, dark, and soundless day..” (Poe, 90). The narrator explains that he is on his way to an old friend 's house, Roderick and Madeline Usher, who both live in the mansion. He then explains what he sees at first glimpse of the mansion. “I looked upon the scene before me – the bleak walls, vacant eye-like windows, rank sedges, and a few white trunks of decayed trees..” (90). The setting is dark and full of potential evil; making it a romantic
When writing a story that is meant to scare the reader, authors use a variety of different literary elements to intensify fear. This is apparent in the stories “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “beware: do not read this poem,” and “House Taken Over”. It is shown through transformation in the character, setting, and sometimes even the story or poem itself, adding to the scariness that the reader feels when reading it. While there are some examples of transformation not being scary or not playing a role in stories meant to scare us, transformation plays a crucial role in making the reader of these stories scared.
He describes his superstition one night, "I endeavored to believe that much, if not all of what I felt, was due to the phantasmagoric influence of the gloomy furniture of the room…" (1468). Hence, Poe makes use of the house to create a supernatural effect. Likewise, Poe describes the house to create a terrifying effect. "The Fall of the House of Usher" is a horror story. In order to develop a mood to get the reader frightened, Poe must portray the setting of the story. The house is described initially by the narrator, who sees the image of the house as a skull or death’s head looming out of the dead. He is not sure what to think and comments of the properties of the old house: "What was it, I paused to think, what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of the house of Usher?
The stranger in “Where is Here” is not introduced as a particularly malicious character, but people are naturally scared of things they don’t know, such as strangers.A character in “Where is Here” states, “He could be anyone, after all. Any kind of thief, or mentally disturbed person, or even murderer” (Oates 70). When people are introduced to something unfamiliar or mysterious, they are scared because someone normal like the stranger could transform into someone evil through their actions or words. In “The Fall of the House of Usher, reailty is questioned as the main character experiences his childhood friend’s house and mental anguish.When reality, something seemingly set in stone, is questioned, people are scared because it is foreign. The narrator questions his own mind in the story, stating, “I had so worked upon my imagination as really to believe that about the whole mansion and domain there hung an atmosphere peculiar to themselves and their immediate vicinity…” (Poe 15). Going from being sure of what’s happening to not having the assurance of reality is transformation being used by Poe for fear in movies. In the movie “Fear of the Dark” it is based around a phobia of the unknown that lies in the dark. A quote from the movie is, “You don’t understand, the dark isn’t just the dark,” showing the character is afraid of what he doesn't know. Consequently, the dark goes from being the
He explains the outside of the house vividly when the narrator arrives by stating, “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”(Poe 474). The narrator goes into detail and puts an image in the reader's mind of the outside of the house and his first impression of it to create more of an eerie and depressed mood and to show how dark and plain the house is. This also helps show what kind of character Usher is and how sick he is because he is unable to take care of his house. It explains why Usher is always in an unhappy mood because his house is so dark and
In the story “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Poe presents the history of the end of an illustrious family. As with many of Poe’s stories, setting and mood contribute greatly to the overall tale. Poe’s descriptions of the house itself as well as the inhabitants thereof invoke in the reader a feeling of gloom and terror. This can best be seen first by considering Poe’s description of the house and then comparing it to his description of its inhabitants, Roderick and Madeline Usher.
Poe also uses symbolism to represent the connection between the house and the Usher family. The description of the house itself has a shocking resemblance to that of Roderick and Madelyn Usher. Upon the main character’s arrival, Poe offers an interesting description of the building’s physical state. “The discoloration of age had been great. Minute fungi overspread the whole exterior, hanging in fine tangled web-work from the eves” (1266). Poe is able to establish an air of suspense by relating the state of the house to that of Roderick and Madelyn Usher.
The narrator in "the House of Usher" was actually the friend of the main character of the story, Roderick Usher, who lived with his sister in the house and both had mental sicknesses that had ultimately led to their deaths. While the house was not actually haunted, as horror stories usually are made up of, there was a permeating sense of decay about the building that continued up to the two owners of the house, with their depression and gloom, and the sister's ability to withdraw in a catatonic state that would make anyone unaware of the condition conclude that the person had died. The house, which was the setting of the story, was not bathed in light or warmth; it was either always dark, or gloomy, "melancholy" was the word frequently used; and the reference to the crack in the wall was to show that it was on its way to destruction; all it needed wa...
“As we stand in the cold rain, on this dark night; waiting for the bus. We hear the shadows whispering and the wind howling. The full moon shining so bright as the wolves sing their song.” How did that passage make you feel? Scared? Creeped out? Those feelings you felt were caused by the setting of the passage. The dark night, cold rain, the bright full moon; all of those were examples of ‘eerie settings’; but, read this. “Oh, how the fluffy green grass feels beneath my bare feet. The beautiful sunflowers blooming before me. I look up to the sun, as it gives me a warm kiss on my cheek.” This passage showed examples of happy or warm settings. They make you feel good; making you never want to leave.