Symbols In The Fall Of The House Of Usher

destruction. In addition to the house, physical appearance and falling are also significant symbols in the story. The physical appearance of the Usher siblings, Roderick and Madeline, is described as sickly and frail, which could represent the decay and deterioration of the family's bloodline. The falling of the house and the Usher siblings could also symbolize the downfall of the aristocracy during the time period in which the story was written. Another symbol used by Poe is the tarn, which is a small lake near the house. The tarn could represent the darkness and mystery that surrounds the Usher family and their history. Finally, the storm that occurs in the story could symbolize the chaos and turmoil within the Usher family and their inevitable demise. Overall, Poe's use of symbols in “The Fall of the House of Usher” adds depth and complexity to the story, allowing readers to interpret the text in various ways. moat”. When the narrator first sees the house, he describes it as follows: "I looked upon the scene before me—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 which I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveller upon opium—the bitter lapse into everyday life—the hideous dropping off of the veil." The dark and horrible atmosphere, as described in the previous quote, symbolizes the negative effect of being in the Usher's presence. The physical deterioration of the house symbolizes the physical deterioration of Roderick and Madeline. The house is in really bad shape; for example, "The discoloration of ages had been great. Minute fungi overspread the whole exterior, hanging in a fine, tangled web-work from the eaves. Yet all this was apart from any extraordinary dilapidation." The physical appearance of Madeline and Roderick was probably the same as the house: dilapidated. The crack going through the middle of it symbolizes the brokenness of the Ushers. We know there is a crack going through the outside of the house because the narrator describes it when he says, "Perhaps the eye of a scrutinizing observer might have discovered a barely perceptible fissure, which, extending from the roof of the building in front, made its way down the wall in a zigzag direction, until it became lost in the sullen waters of the moat."