House Of Usher And Julio Cortazar's House Taken Over

Writing to Compare In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall Of The House Of Usher” and Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over,” the settings are similar because both of the stories have a dark settings and environments that correlate to the elements gothic literature. However, in Poe’s story, the setting is older and more darker because of the words describing usher’s house and the environment. In contrast, Cortazar’s setting is newer and has less medieval architecture.

Gothic literature is a unique literary genre that contained dark elements such as bleak or remote settings, a gloomy, melancholy, or eerie mood, old architecture, and plots that involve weird or violent events and supernatural occurrences. Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of The House of

This genre shocks and surprises readers by having elements such as recognizable characters who feel and act in customary ways, realistic settings, fantastic events , and an unimpressed narrative tone that presents fantastic events as logical parts of life. Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over” is a quality piece of Magical Realism because Cortazar described a realistic character reaction, by writing; “when I heard something in the library or the dining room. The sound came through muted and indistinct, a chair being knocked over onto the carpet… a second later I heard it at the end of the passage which led from those two rooms toward the door.” (pg 39). This sentence from “House Taken Over” represents Magical Realism because because it shows a normal human reaction, by writing what the character experienced and what type of feeling they had afterwards. Therefore, “House Taken Over” is a quality piece of Magical Realism because it contains recognizable characters who feel, act, and react in customary ways. For example the sentence provided on page 39. The story also includes other elements such as realistic settings and fantastic events that correlate to Magical