House Of Usher Symbolism

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The Enticing Asylum Did you know that cabin fever, in some cases, can lead to insanity? In the short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator stumbles upon the erie, isolated House of Usher. It was a mystery to him why he was so intrigued by the hair-raising mansion. Then he remembers that his childhood friend Roderick Usher lives there, and he had just received a letter from him saying that he needed a friend to come and relieve him of his mental illness; thus giving him a justification to go and explore the house. While there, the narrator encounters mysterious events involving Roderick Usher and his twin sister lady Madeline Usher. In Poe’s short story he uses imagery and symbolism to add a gothic twist …show more content…

The mansion is a symbol for the Usher family bloodline with its appearance and state of being. In the beginning of the story the narrator implies that the house is falling going to rip in half because of its long fissure that runs straight down the front of the mansion. The fissure is a symbol for the insanity that runs throughout the house. The fissure foreshadows the fall of the house just like Roderick’s mental illness indicates his looming death. After both of the twins die the house begins to topple and the narrator says this as he rides away on his horse; “While I gazed, the fissure rapidly widened---there came a fierce breath of whirlwind---then 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 dee and dank tarn at my feet sullenly and silently over the fragment of the ‘House of Usher’,” (pg. …show more content…

In this story, Poe’s use of imagery to describe Roderick’s mental illness and Madeline’s unforeseen last appearance, indeed gives the story the dark, astonishing effect that one would expect from a work of Poe’s. Also through Poe’s use of symbolism he gives “The Fall of the House of Usher” that supernatural, connotative effect through making the mansion a symbol for the Usher family and by giving the twins a double effect. Despite the fact that cabin fever is most definitely real, Poe presents the example of what not to do when one is faced with the issue of being isolated from the rest of

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