“We’re lost aren’t we?” I heard stammered from behind me. “No, we’re not we’re exploring”, came the hesitant retort,” come on let's see what up a head”. As two small figures raced past me I sighed in defeat scrambling to catch up. Truth was my siblings and I were lost in the woods, had been in fact for a good while now and still, regardless of the distance we walked the forest's edge never appeared closer.. It hadn’t been frightening at first, we came up here often and today had been lovely for walking. But now the sun whose rays shone through the forest canopy cast a cold light, giving the trees a stark, bleached visage. How strange that one wrong turn could turn the woods familiarity on its head. This is transformation at work. When inducing …show more content…
fear transformation can be used to estrange familiar situations and environments; often the scene will turn ominous and play on our fear of the unknown. For example, our - mine and my siblings - fear was driven by the woods transformation from a familiar are into a foreign environment. The uncertainty of the situation consequently led to more fear as imagined possibilities entered our heads.
Transformation is likewise used throughout literature. You can find transformation used frequently and with variety when a story means to frighten it’s audience. For example in ‘House Taken Over’ you have a brother and sister living a normal life, suddenly after some muffled noises in their back rooms and a flurry of panicked actions the brother proclaims “I had to shut the door to the passage. They’ve taken over the back part” (40). The transformation from normal to mysterious takes place swiftly; this along with the situations abstract ambiguity can serve to frighten or disorient the reader. Set in an eerie tone the poem ‘Windigo’ experiences a similar transformation, from ‘Mother scolded the food warm and smooth in pot’ to ‘but I spoke in the cold trees: New one I have come for you’ (108). The overall tone of this story stays eerie and mysterious but while the first stanzas take place in a normal state the following exert shifts the setting. Now this situation exists in a more fantastical domain which along with being more ominous an unfamiliar and described with intense imagery causes fear in the reader's …show more content…
mind. In ‘Where is Here’ we get a mysterious stranger visiting his childhood home whose strange mannerisms alarm the family.
Moreover at the visits end we discover that ‘the lights were flickering as if on the brink of going out; the patterned wallpaper seemed drained of color, a a shadow lay upon it shaped like a bulbous cloud or growth. Even the robust green of the carpeting had faded’ (76). Here the strangers visit seems to usher in the unnatural as the house and family now parallels those of the strangers past. However as the parents reactions of violent rage and worry we see that in actuality what has been transformed is their perspective of their house to show their less than perfect life. In ‘The Fall of the House of Usher' you can see a long and gradual transformation in usher. Foremost you have mention of how terribly altered he has become since his friend last saw him - markedly that he has become drawn, pale and cadaver-like - so much so as to ring douts to his identity as Roderick Usher (17). Then his sister Madeline dies, consequently ‘an observable change came over the features of the mental disorder of my friend. His ordinary manner vanished. His ordinary occupations were neglected or
forgotten. Ge roamed from chamber to chamber with hurried, unequal, and objectless steps’ (24). These Roderick usher's changes from withdrawn, to listless, to paranoid and finally insane throughout the story serve to unsettle readers and build unpredictability into the story. It feeds into the already sinister and offbeat feel of both situation and house promoting fear. Transformation is used by authors to develop uncertainty and ambiguity in characters, situations, and setting. Thusly we see that these pieces of literature serve to frighten and disorient readers through the use of transformation.
In “Fall of the House of Usher”, the setting takes place at the house of Usher, whose friend, the main character, comes to visit because Usher is dying. He travels through the house, visiting the family members and sees the house is in a serious state of disrepair. A theory on the story
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
When he arrived at the home the servant who took his hoarse and directed him to the room that Mr. Usher was in greeted him. Inside the house was also very ornate, but it to had also been left alone for to long. The entire house had a gloomy atmosphere that would put a chill down most people’s spines. When he entered the room his friend was staying in he was warmly welcomed. He could not believe the changes that his dear childhood friend had endured.
The first sentence of the story begins with the narrator talking about “the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, [he] had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary track of country;…” (McMichael). As the narrator is approaching the House of Usher, he begins to feel this sense of eerie, depression, and anxiety because he has not seen his friend for a long while and he already knows about his mental illness so he becomes curious of what he will find but already he is starting to get the effects of the depression that Usher is suffering from, alongside with his mental illness
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.
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.
Fear is a prominently depicted theme in this short story. From the start of the short story, you are able to sense the fear through the words of the narrator. The words of the narrator convey that the setting as a fearful place, the House of Usher. When the narrator makes his way towards the House of Usher, the sense of mystery and fear takes over, intimately causing the narrator to shiver. The setting itself was not the only detail conveying fear, further in the story we encounter Roderick. Roderick is the excellent example of fear, as exemplified when he said: “I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect--in terror. In this unnerved—in this pitiable condition--I feel that the period will sooner or later arrive when I must abandon life and reason
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.
This relates to a very significant element in stories meant to scare us: transformation. The most compelling part of this element is transformation in people or characters. There are incredible examples of this in the stories Frankenstein, The Fall of the House of Usher, and The Raven and even in a personal experience of mine involving the popular movie, The Goonies. There are marvelous examples of transforming characters in the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. One of these is the book’s namesake himself.
to a realm of unfettered vision," lifts us out of rather than urges us into the depths which humanity in the person of Usher has touched (4). Caroline Gordon and Allen Tate are closer to the truth when they call [column 2:] Usher "a 'Gothic' character taken seriously" and when they view "The Fall of the House of Usher" as "a serious story of moral perversion" (5).... ... middle of paper ... ... Eric W. Carlson (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1966), p. 267.
The Fall of the House of Usher is about an old house that is very gross and creepy along with how a family can not keep their bloodline going. The house is falling apart and very worn down. There are some things that contributed for the the house being worn down. “No portion of the masonry had fallen; and there appeared to be a wild inconsistency between its
He uses detailed description and allows the reader to focus and be more drawn into the story. Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren’s analysis of “The Fall of the House of Usher” talked about their version of the breakdown of the story. The tragedy of Usher didn’t have any suspense nor any understanding toward the character of Usher. The suspense was absent due to the hints provided for the instability of the house and the owner’s slow deteriorating health. The character’s background comes from a strange ancient family that has a single branch that carries a strange illness to its descendant. Usher brings his death to himself by his actions.
The story starts off talking about the Usher’s mansion, “During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country, and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher” (Poe). This gives us a vivid picture of the narrator’s point of view and the dark picture it portrays. Poe shows his gothic style in the
“The Fall of the House of Usher” is a story that revolves around a sick man, Roderick Usher. A nameless narrator travels to the Usher mansion when summoned by Roderick himself. Upon reaching
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.