Comparing Fall Of The House Of Usher And House Taken Over

761 Words2 Pages

Many scary movies are released during the month of October. People go to movie theaters to watch these spooky and eerie movies for entertainment. However, to get the full experience of being anxious and terrified, nothing can outdo fiction writers.Two writers who seek to terrify readers with their short stories are American writer Edgar Allan Poe, author of the Gothic short story, “Fall of the House of Usher,” published in 1839, and Argentinean writer Julio Cortazar, author of “House Taken Over,” a story written in the tradition of Magical Realism, published in 1946. While Poe and Cortazar seek to captivate readers with their respective stories, the two authors use their own unique technique, especially when it comes to their settings, characters and styles. …show more content…

Essentially, Poe specifically points out to the readers that the story takes place in autumn, which signals decay and the coming of winter’s cold. Also, Poe creates a sense of gloominess in the setting by the clouds hanging low in the sky. Additionally, the narrator goes on to explain the condition of the house in the story, and it reveals, “The discolor of ages had been great. Minute fungi overspread the whole exterior, hanging in a fine tangled web-work from the eaves” (15). Poe uses fungi and discoloration in the story to describe the decay of the building itself and how old the building is. The web-work around the house also reveals how the house is not being taken care of and it is being abandoned by the owners of the house. In sum, through these features of the house, Poe describes the old and unsettling setting. Contrastingly, the overall setting of Cortazar’s writing is familiar and it is set in modern times. When the narrator describes the time when the characters were living in the house, the narrator addresses, “It was a large house, and the rooms were old” (37). Certainly, the house was old and it was built a long time ago, however the characters are living in that place in modern times.

Open Document