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The fall of the house of usher literary analysis
Critical reading of fall of the house of usher
The fall of the house of usher literary analysis
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Edger Allan Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” tells the Gothic and hunting story of a friend’s failed attempt to help another friend. The story’s vague start describing a deteriorating house gives an eerie feeling to the story. Soon the narrator finds himself betwixt an interesting familial dynamic of a brother and sister of the Usher family. With both siblings affected with mysterious illnesses, death soon finds the sister Madeline while Roderick Usher continues to suffer mentally. Madeline’s ghostly return after being entombed alive by her brother, and the house crumbling to the ground climatically ends the tale. From the haunted setting to the supernatural occurrences the story definitely does not lack a dull moment. Throughout the story Poe envelops the reader in a sense of fear by using certain literary techniques. In “The Fall of The House of Usher” Poe portrays various forms of doubling to terrify the reader through juxtaposition of the ordinary with the strange.
The story’s opening images show how Poe’s doubling in a reflection can alter the original view into something fearful. From the narrators first sight of the house there was “ a sense of insufferable gloom [that] pervaded [his] spirit” indicating there was a terrifying aura around this house (Poe 1553). However, the way the narrator describes the house was quite ordinary: “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” (1553). Even though the description is seemingly ordinary the narrator’s reaction manipulates the readers’ imagination to believe that the aura of the house is more frighten...
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...the seemingly normal. Poe took everyday occurrences juxtaposing them with the strange which turned them into something that everyone can be afraid of; a simple reflection in the water, a family member, or a work of fiction. Poe creates an unsettling idea to fear the common leaving the reader with the notion that everything around them has the potential to terrorize. When the story reaches it conclusion Poe successfully manipulated the reader’s imagination to believe that no matter what there is always something to fear. However the question arises, is Poe making a mockery of a world around him that is frightened by the littlest of things? Or does Poe truly believe that everything in the world has potential to terrorize? Even though these questions are presented, Poe still created a frightening tale by manipulating the imagination into believing the worst of anything.
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.
As explained before, the "dull, dark, and soundless" house serves as both "the castle" and "gloomy atmospheres'' in this story. Poe uses the house as the main tool to create a gloomy and mysterious atmosphere. However not all of Poe's gothic elements are actual physical objects. Fear is Poe's next choice of gothic elements as even our main character Roderick predicted would "sooner or later'' become his untimely demise. Fear is the dark recesses of the human heart and conscience and Roderick's fear in this brilliant story was not even death; but it was fear its self.
In "The Fall of the house of Usher," Edgar Allen Poe creates suspense and fear in the reader. He also tries to convince the reader not to let fear overcome him. Poe tries to evoke suspence in the reader's mind by using several diffenent scenes. These elements include setting, characters, plot, and theme. Poe uses setting primarily in this work to create atmosphere. The crack in the house and the dead trees imply that the house and its surroundings are not sturdy or promising. These elements indicate that a positive outcome is not expected. The thunder, strange light, and mist create a spooky feeling for the reader. The use of character provides action and suspense in the story through the characters' dialogue and actions. Roderick, who is hypochondriac, is very depressed. He has a fearful apperance and his senses are acute. This adds curiosity and anxiety. The narrator was fairly normal until he began to imagine things and become afraid himself. Because of this, the audience gets a sense that evil is lurking. Madeline is in a cataleptic state. She appears to be very weak and pail. Finally, when she dies, she is buried in a vault inside of the mansion. In this story, the plot consists of rising events, conflict, climax, and resolution. The rising events include the parts in the story when the narrator first arrives at the house, meets Roderick, and hears about Roderick's and Madeline's problems. Madeline's death and burial are part of the conflict. At this point, Roderick and the narrator begin to hear sounds throughout the house. The sounds are an omen that an evil action is about to occur. The climax is reached when Madeline comes back from the dead and she and her twin brother both die. Finally, the resolution comes when the narrator escapes from the house and turns around to watch it fall to the ground. The theme that Edgar Allen Poe is trying to convey is do not let fear take over your life because it could eventually destory you.
In the story, “The Fall of The House of Usher”, there are many mysterious happenings that go on throughout the story between the characters Roderick Usher and the narrator. Throughout the story, Edgar Allan Poe uses themes such as madness and insanity to connect the house back to Roderick Usher. In the “Fall of The House of Usher”, the narrator goes through many different experiences when arriving to the house. The narrator’s experiences start out as almost unnoticeable in the beginning, turn into bigger ones right before his eyes, and end up becoming problems that cause deterioration of the mind and the house before the narrator even decides to do anything helpful for Roderick and his mental illness. In “The Fall of The House of Usher”, Edgar Allan Poe uses comparison between the physical House of Usher and the family of Usher to describe that looks can be deceiving and that little problems can lead to later downfall.
Imagery in "The Fall of the House of Usher" The description of the landscape in any story is important as it creates a vivid imagery of the scene and helps to develop the mood. Edgar Allan Poe is a master at using imagery to improve the effects of his stories. He tends to use the landscapes to symbolize some important aspect of the story. Also, he makes use of the landscape to produce a supernatural effect and to induce horror. In particular, Poe makes great use of these tools in "The Fall of the House of Usher." This story depends on the portrayal of the house itself to create a certain atmosphere and to relate to the Usher family. In "The Fall of the House of Usher," Edgar Allan Poe uses the landscape to develop an atmosphere of horror and to create corollary to the Usher family. Poe uses the life-like characteristics of the house as a device for giving the house a supernatural presence. The house is described as having somewhat supernatural characteristics. The windows appear to be "vacant" and "eye-like" (1462). The strange nature of the house is further explained as around the mansion, "…there hung an atmosphere peculiar to themselves and their immediate vicinity." (1462). This demonstrates that the house and its surroundings have an unusual and bizarre existence. Upon entering the house, the narrator views some objects, such as the tapestries on the walls and the trophies, fill him with a sense of superstition. He describes the trophies as "phantasmagoric" (1462). He further explains that the house and the contents were the cause of his feelings.
Poe uses figurative language to quickly draw the reader into the story. For example, in the beginning of the story, he personifies the house in saying that it has “vacant eye-like windows,”(Poe 294) and that the house’s horrific appearance is that of “the hideous dropping off of the veil.”(294) His descriptions of the house are luring in the reader in preparation for the story that has already begun.
In “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe, a man named Roderick Usher sent an urgent letter to the narrator- an old childhood friend, asking him to come to his home to keep him company. Roderick explained he has a nervous illness and would appreciate the presence of a supportive friend. Even though the narrator only remembers Usher as a childhood memory, he immediately left to go see him. His time at the House of Usher was terrifying. After always seeing the house as a mystery from the outside and knowing that their family always ended in an “unsatisfactory conclusion,” (Poe 2706) the narrator experienced the disturbing trapped inside life of Roderick Usher and his twin sister, Madeline.
Poe uses several descriptive words in his portrayal of the house. The reader’s first impression of the house comes from a direct observation from the narrator. This unnamed narrator states, “… with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit.” As the narrator continues to describe the house he uses several similarly dismal adjectives. The gloom experienced by the narrator is not limited to merely the house itself. The vegetation, which surrounds the area, is described as “a few rank sedges and … a few white trunks of decayed trees.” He emphasizes these facets of the house and its environs by restating the descriptions reflected in a “black and lurid tarn.” The narrator points out that the house seems to be in a dilapidated condition. While he claims that the house appears structurally sound, he takes time to comment upon “the crumbling condition of the individual stones.” He also emphasizes the long history of the house by stating that its features recall an “excessive antiquity.”
Poe’s use of personification, the act of giving human characteristics to nonhuman things, assigns the house of Usher a powerful and evil presence. In the first paragraph of the story, the narrator describes the house as having “vacant eye-like windows”. He uses this description twice: first to show that the house has seen everything that has led to the fall of Usher, and again to emphasize the unidentified deception of the house. The narrator also describes his negative reaction to the house as a “hideous dropping off of the veil”. This statement describes what the house has revealed to the narrator, a disgusting and disappointing appearance.
(1265) along with other disturbing words to stress the mood of horror. Furthermore, the house evokes suspense as it strikes the reader with curiosity as to why the building presents such a dreadful and uneasy feeling. Poe describes the house with further detail emphasizing its ghostly traits: “Dark draperies hung upon the walls. The general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered. Many books and musical instruments lay scattered about, but failed to give any vitality to the scene” (1267). Poe describes the house using very descriptive and daunting words contributing to the story’s depressive mood as well as its suspense.
Edgar Allan Poe is undoubtedly one of American Literature's legendary and prolific writers, and it is normal to say that his works touched on many aspects of the human psyche and personality. While he was no psychologist, he wrote about things that could evoke the reasons behind every person's character, whether flawed or not. Some would say his works are of the horror genre, succeeding in frightening his audience into trying to finish reading the book in one sitting, but making them think beyond the story and analyze it through imagery. The "Fall of the House of Usher" is one such tale that uses such frightening imagery that one can only sigh in relief that it is just a work of fiction. However, based on the biography of Poe, events that surrounded his life while he was working on his tales were enough to show the emotions he undoubtedly was experiencing during that time.
In the beginning of the story, with an extensive and vivid description of the house and its vicinity, Poe prepares the scene for a dreadful, bleak, and distempered tale. The setting not only affects Poe’s narration of the story but influences the characters and their actions as well. Both the narrator and his boyhood friend, Roderick Usher, question w...
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.
...e opens the door. When he found himself opening the door, he saw nothing but darkness. And this is the point where he figures that there is nothing out there. I think the reason Poe was so afraid, reflects back on Lenore. I understood Lenore to be Poe’s love at some point in his life. He’s been so depressed, that all he thinks about is her, but then again, he is also trying to forget about her at the same time. And when he first heard the sounds of rustling, he might of thought it could be the spirit of Lenore. I think this was the reason for him to have been so afraid. Poe drew a lot of his ideas and images into his own imagination. And the images he had of Lenore, was not making him feel any better. I think that most of Poe’s thoughts and feelings all came from his mind, and not his heart.