In "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe, an outside witness is brought into a dark, decaying house only to notice that the family who lives within are in the same state as the house. After a sudden death of the lady Madeline of Usher, the house and it's living members undergo several obstacles including the ghost of lady Madeline of Usher and a powerful wind shattering the house into fragments. Now any sane person would've acted with immense emotion and expression, but what if the narrator wasn't sane, what if the whole story was just a figment of his imagination? There is evidence that states the narrator is insane or dreaming, that the entire story is a projection of his mind. Some examples of this idea of insanity are the …show more content…
opening paragraphs that describe when he first sees the house, how he describes himself throughout his experiences, how the members act and are described as, and the house being encompassed by the strong wind. Early in the story, the narrator says, "with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of the half pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment, with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate and or terrible." (p.264) A gloom fell upon him, not because his friend has fell ill, but because it is him coming to terms with his mental state. The house is his mind, and the house is in such a destructed state because the narrator has become mentally ill. The narrator also stated that, "His (Usher) reserve had always been excessive and habitual." (p.264) This can be interpreted as the narrator realizes long ago his mind was healthy and welcoming, and now has become terrifying and unkempt. His lack of mental care has led him to dream so vividly. Otherwise, considered as his mind reaching full insanity past the point of a cure. The narrator, himself, is never fully described feature wise, almost as if he could not see himself. He describes himself as more of an external entity rather than a physical being. For example, upon arrival, the narrator says, "I looked upon the scene before me [...] with an utter depression of soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveler upon opium-- the bitter lapse into everyday life-- the hideous dropping off of the veil." (p.264) He is saying that his feelings cannot be compared to any human feeling, except that of a person hallucinating from strong drugs. Another example is him describing his days with Usher, he says, "We painted and read together; or I listened, as if in a dream [...]." (p.269) Maybe he felt is was like a dream, because it was a dream. Maybe those days with Usher were just mere seconds. A person with a mental illness often struggles to find the difference between reality and dreams. Internal struggle of the narrator is shown throughout his encounters in the Usher house. Unlike the narrator, the members of the house are described in a lot of detail.
However, the detail given is not a typical description. The narrator describes the Ushers almost as if it was him looking in the mirror, as if he was them. He describes Usher as, "A cadaverousness of complexion; an eye large, liquid, and luminous beyond comparison; lips somewhat thin and very pallid [...]" (p.267) Usher is the physical representation of the narrator's illness. Maybe he's faded from a past illness and the narrator returning is a relapse. The narrator had always considered him a friend, because someone with a long history of a particular illness and who struggles to remember what it was like before they were ill often clings or befriends their illness almost like a crutch. The other members of the house are his other personalities. The narrator shows symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder or Borderline Personality Disorder. From the beginning, the narrator describes being swept over with gloom, or the first symptom, depression. The second symptom starts to show more after the death of the lady Madeline of Usher. While in his room, he thinks to himself, "Sleep came not near my couch-- while the hours waned and waned away. I struggled to reason off the nervousness which had dominion over me." (p.274) The anxiety he is experiencing is not because of the corpse, but because he lost one of his …show more content…
personalities. At the end of the story, the lady of Madeline of Usher returns in a ghost form, almost like a illness relapse.
After the appearance of the ghost, "For a moment she remained trembling and reeling to and fro upon the threshold-- then, with a low moaning cry, fell heavily inward upon the person of her brother, and in her violent and now final death agonies, bore him to the floor a corpse, and a victim to the terrors he had anticipated." (p.278) The narrator is finally being treated at the end of the story. This quote symbolizes the treatment finally working, releasing him from his multiple personalities. The only reason that the ghost appeared was because the narrator either stopped taking his medication or because it stopped working. After the success of getting rid of his multiple personalities, it was now time to clean his mind of all the clutter. "While I gazed, this fissure rapidly widened-- there came a fierce breath of the whirlwind-- the entire orb of the satellite burst at once upon my sight-- my brain reeled as I saw the mighty walls rushing asunder-- there was a long tumultuous shouting sound like the voice of a thousand waters-- and the deep and dark tarn at my feet closed sullenly over the fragments of the "House of Usher" (p.279) This symbolizes the walls of the narrator's mind falling down, opening him up to a new life. His illness is cured, and now he is left to build himself back up brick by
brick. In the end, this story is the narrator's journey through his mental illness. There was no actual house of Usher, but instead it just his mind. The opening paragraphs of the story show him realizing what state his mind is and how much help he needs. He describes himself as if he not actually there in person, but rather in spirit. The other characters in the story are his multiple personalities from a disorder he has, and Usher is his actual illness in human-like form. Finally, the end is the narrator receiving treatment, and when the house falls, he is free from his illness and he can start anew. The house of Usher was just a figment of his imagination. "The Fall of the House of Usher" could be Edgar Allan Poe telling his own journey through mental illness.
Roderick and the fall of the house of usher have a deceiving appearance. Poe introduces “In this was much that reminded me of the specious totality of woodwork which has rotted for long years in some neglected vault with no disturbance from the breath of the external air” (312). After meeting Roderick and going inside the house, which appear to be normal, it is revealed that the interior is deteriorated. This home is void of others existence, excepting Roderick and Lady Madeleine. He has “A cadaverous of complexion, an eye large,liquid and luminous beyond comparison, lips somewhat thin and very pallid.” (363). It appears to the readers that Roderick has lost his soul due to his ghostly appearance. His illness has taken a toll on his outward appearance.”The ‘House Of Usher’ an appellation which seemed to include… both the family and the family mansion” (311). The house of usher reflects what is going on within the family. Craziness and neglection engulf Roderick’s as much the house. Roderick’s mental illness and the house are
The story starts out with the narrator riding up to an old and gloomy house. He stresses that the overall persona of the house is very eerie. The reason he is at this house is because he received a letter from an old friend by the name of Roderick Usher. Roderick and the narrator were intimate friend at a young age but they had not spoken to each other in several years. The narrator examined the house for a great time as he rode toward the house, he noticed that the house had been severely neglected over time. That the house’s beautiful woodwork and Gothic type of architecture have not been maintenance to any degree since he had last seen it.
the ghost or is his conscious getting to him. Then he starts losing track of
I believe the author choose a different kind of narrator to make the story seem more gloomy and mysterious, while also giving the reader the feeling of helplessness and claustrophobia. He did this to use the unity of effect to make the story more dark and mysterious. He achieved this effect by making the narrator more sane and giving us an outsider perspective of the House of Usher.
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?
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.
In “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Edgar Allan Poe writes of psychic and supernatural occurrences that the narrator and both Madeline and Roderick experience. Poe writes these scenes with a fair amount of ambiguity and horror so that the true reason for the family’s dismay is unclear. Being the man that he is, a horror expert who invokes fear and new phenomenon in the mind of the reader, “The Fall of the House of Usher” does just that. The greatness of Poe is that he is able to raise an unearthly terror, which comes from a vague and unclear source. The couple has been secluded for an extended period of time with little visitors, which could drive anyone insane. Insanity is the first impression the reader interprets from reading the short
By giving insight into Roderick Usher’s life, Poe reveals how individuals can make themselves believe they are mentally ill. From the start of story, it is revealed that the narrator has been requested by Usher to help him through his “acute bodily illness” (18). The narrator immediately leaves
The Fall of The House of Usher is an eerie, imaginative story. The reader is captured by the twisted reality. Many things in the story are unclear to the reader; but no less interesting. For instance, even the conclusion of the story lends it self to argument. Did the house of Usher truly "fall"? Or, is this event simply symbolism? In either case, it makes a dramatic conclusion. Also dramatic is the development of the actual house. It seems to take on a life of its own. The house is painted with mystery. The narrator himself comments on the discerning properties of the aged house; "What was it, I paused to think, what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of the house of Usher" (54)? The house is further developed in the narrator's references to the house. "...In this mansion of gloom" (55). Even the surroundings serve the purpose. The narrator describes the landscape surrounding as having, "... an atmosphere which had no affinity with the air of heaven, but which had reeked up from the decayed trees, and the gray wall, and the silent tarn a pestilent and mystic vapor, dull, sluggish, faintly discernible, and leaden hued" (55). This fantastic imagery sets the mood of the twisted events. Roderick Usher complements the forbidding surroundings terrifically. His temperament is declining and he seems incessantly agitated and nervous. And, as it turns out, Roderick's fears are valid. For soon enough, before his weakening eyes, stands the Lady Madeline of Usher. This shocking twist in the story is developed through the book that the narrator is reading. The last line that he reads is, "Madman! I tell you that she now stands without the door" (66)! Without suspecting such an event, the reader soon finds Lady Madeline actually standing at the door. She is described as having, "...blood on her white robes, and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her emaciated frame" (66). This line not only induces terror but invites debate. Upon seeing the woman the reader has to consider the cause of her death.
In the short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allen Poe, diction is extensively used to create an air of suspense. Poe’s use of diction along with symbolism contributes to establishing a mood of despair. By using symbolic comparison between the Ushers and their house, the story’s suspense builds and the characteristics of the Ushers are portrayed. Poe’s cunning tactics are evident in the way he achieves a story of both suspense and horror.
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...
A mental illness, no matter the cause, takes over the mind and soul, controlling a person's life and conscience. This is expressed through Macbeth and his daunting decision to murder King Duncan. As Macbeth ponders over the decision, he begins to hallucinate a “dagger...in front” of him (Shakespeare). This shows Macbeth’s obvious distress with the plan he had been presented. The hallucination expresses the clouding of Macbeth’s morals and marks the beginning of the overbearing guilt that will cause Macbeth’s demise. The guilt Macbeth is faced with after the murders he has taken part in begins to mentally break him, causing him to lash out at a hallucination, screaming for it to “get out of here” (Shakespeare). This ental crack shows the deeply rooted corruption of Macbeth has taken
The Fall Of The House of Usher is a terrifying tale of the demise of the Usher family, whose inevitable doom is mirrored in the diseased and evil aura of the house and grounds. Poe uses elements of the gothic tale to create an atmosphere of terror. The decaying house is a metaphor for Roderick Usher’s mind, as well as his family line. The dreary landscape also reflects his personality. Poe also uses play on words to engage the reader to make predictions, or provide information. Poe has also set the story up to be intentionally ambiguous so that the reader is continually suspended between the real and the fantastic.
A Critical Analysis of The Fall of the House of Usher There are three significant characters in this story: the narrator, whose name is never given, Roderick and Madeline Usher. The narrator is a boyhood friend of Roderick Usher. He has not seen Roderick since they were children; however, because of an urgent letter that the narrator has received from Roderick which was requesting his assistance in alleviating his malady, the narrator makes the long journey to the House of Usher. Roderick and Madeline Usher are the sole, remaining members of the long, time-honored Usher race. This might suggest incestuous relationships throughout the Usher family tree.