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The fall of the house of usher by edgar allan poe analysis
Analysis of the fall of the house of usher by poe
Fall of the house of usher analysis essay
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“The Fall of the House of Usher,” one of Edgar Allan Poe’s most prevalent works, manifests the descent into madness within an arguably supernatural residence through gothic fiction. A mental illness provokes Roderick Usher, one of the last two direct descendants of the Usher family, to call upon a companion in boyhood, the narrator, to supervise and nurture him and his sister throughout their illness. However, as the house manifests itself as a paranormal being enclosed in its own atmosphere, the descent of the Ushers is questioned by critics due to the marginal reliability of the narrator with possible mental deterioration in his mental being a possibility. Throughout the story, the narrator is himself unstable and, therefore, gives us an …show more content…
”Although the narrator believes he is merely chronicling Roderick’s precipitous descent into madness, he is also documenting his own more subtle mental deterioration,” (Gruesser 80). The narrator, although attempting to remain rational and oppose the supernatural, manifested by his denial of all events deemed unbearably frightening, such as the sounds Roderick’s sister makes along with any of Roderick’s conclusions about the house, is inconsistently skeptical and uncertain towards his beliefs of the house’s ability. Whether the narrator enters the house sane or not is beyond the reader’s comprehension. However, as he familiarizes himself with the mysterious effects of inhabiting the house, his constant denial and pathetic attempts to downplay the events, in which he is consistently incorrect, provoke him to state, “There can be no doubt that the consciousness of the rapid increase of my superstition—for why should I not so term it?—served mainly to accelerate the increase itself. Such, I have long known, is the paradoxical law of all sentiments having terror as a basis,” (Poe 111), thus documenting his descent into madness. The narrator’s inability to deem the sounds of his sister escaping her premature burial something as rational as, “the work of the rushing gust,” (Poe 128), along with the …show more content…
The narrator manifests great uncertainty and is reluctant to convince himself of what he is observing, thus making it impossible for readers to deem the narrator reliable. For a narrator to display distress to where he may be considered, “highly troubled, [and] insecure,” (Howes 72), is confirmation that the he has conveyed these characteristics, along with others, throughout the story. However, the characteristics mentioned are all effects of the narrator’s mental isolation, and to be isolated with dread and uncertainty towards phantasmagoric ongoings is to encase optimal conditions for mental deterioration. Poe utilizes the metaphor of the windows to represent the inextricable nature of mental isolation within the house, “The windows were long, narrow, and pointed, and at so vast a distance from the black oaken floor as to be altogether inaccessible from within,” (Poe 113). The window’s excessive length and pointed attributes project the extents within the mind that are achievable, despite being a narrow path to insanity. Also, Poe is emphasizing how inescapable the mind is, as the windows are positioned a fair distance from the ground, with attempting to escape from the fortress of solitude remaining futile. Essentially, the injection of uncertainty into an inextricable mind, already terrorized and plagued, provided for the ultimate
This paper will explore the connection of schizophrenia with Poe’s The Fall of The House of Usher (1839). This paper suggests that the characters of the twins Roderick Usher and Madeline Usher are not two characters, but in fact are one character
In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Poe establishes a new type of literature, he emphasizes sides of Empiricism as well as the idea of Transcendence.
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.
He describes his superstition one night, "I endeavored to believe that much, if not all of what I felt, was due to the phantasmagoric influence of the gloomy furniture of the room…" (1468). Hence, Poe makes use of the house to create a supernatural effect. Likewise, Poe describes the house to create a terrifying effect. "The Fall of the House of Usher" is a horror story. In order to develop a mood to get the reader frightened, Poe must portray the setting of the story. The house is described initially by the narrator, who sees the image of the house as a skull or death’s head looming out of the dead. He is not sure what to think and comments of the properties of the old house: "What was it, I paused to think, what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of the house of Usher?
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 also uses symbolism to compare the deterioration of the house to the fall of the Usher dynasty. In Roderick’s poem, “The Haunted Palace”, he describes the history of the house as it began as a strong and “radiant palace”, which over time became a decrepit, disease-ridden cage. The radiant palace repres...
Edgar Allan Poe primarily authored stories dealing with Gothic literature; the stories were often quite dreary. Poe possessed a very sorrowful view of the world and he expressed this throughout his literary works. His goal was to leave an impression with every detail that he included in his stories. Although Poe’s stories seem very wretched and lackluster they all convey a certain idea. A trademark of Poe’s is his use of very long complex sentences. For instance, in his work The Fall of the House of Usher, Poe tried to ensure that every detail was as relevant as possible by integrating a wide variety of emotion. In the third paragraph, of page two hundred ninety-seven, Poe wrote, “Feeble gleams of encrimsoned light made their way through the trellised panes, and served to render sufficiently distinct the more prominent objects around…” This sentence illustrates the descriptiveness and complexity that Edgar Allan Poe’s works consisted of. The tormented cognizance of Poe led him to use a very gloomy diction throughout his writing. Edgar Allan Poe’s use of symbols and the way he conveyed his writing expr...
Beside his illness and his sister dieing, Roderick believes his condition is being controlled by the house. He call on the narrator a boyhood friend to in a last ditch effort to cheer his life up and give him someone to communicate with. The narrator arrives to a house of gloom, darkness and decaying furniture. He immediately is afraid for his life and how his friend can live a house of darkness. Several days past and it is filled with art discussions, guitar playing, and literature reading, all to keep Roderick's mind busy from the reality that he is losing his mind. The narrator and Roderick prematurely enconffined Madeline in a vault in a hope to alleviate his metal condition. She is either dead, in a coma, or a vampire. You don't know but Poe allows the reader to make there own assumptions.
By giving insight into Roderick Usher’s life, Poe reveals how individuals can make themselves believe they are mentally ill. From the start of story, it is revealed that the narrator has been requested by Usher to help him through his “acute bodily illness” (18). The narrator immediately leaves
In “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Poe’s use of dark, descriptive words allow him to establish an eerie mood. Poe’s unique style of writing along with his foreshadowing vocabulary is significant in creating a suspenseful gothic story. At the beginning of the short story, Poe describes the House of Usher to be “dull”, “oppressive”, and “dreary” (1265). His choice of words strongly emphasizes a mood of darkness and suspense as he builds on the horrific aspects of this daunting tale. At first glimpse, the house itself is surrounded by the feeling of “insufferable gloom”, (1265) “[t]here was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart, an unredeemed dreariness of thought [...]” (1265). The atmosphere that Poe describes in the statement above establishes a spine-chilling mood. Poe uses words such as “insufferable gloom”
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.
The short story is generally a study in human terror. Furthermore, the author explains Poe use of a particular style and technique, to not only create the mood of mystery, but to cause the reader to feel sympathy for the narrator. Poe makes a connection between the storyteller and reader with knowledge and literary craftsmanship.
The story opens with the narrator explaining his sanity after murdering his companion. By immediately presenting the reader with the textbook definition of an unreliable narrator, Poe attempts to distort his audience’s perceptions from the beginning. This point is further emphasized by his focus on the perceived nexus of madness; the eye. Poe, through the narrator, compares the old man’s eye to the eye of a vulture. Because vultures are birds that prey on the weak and depend on their eyesight to hunt, it is easy to deduct that Poe’s intention is to connect the narrator’s guilt and his interpretation of events in his life. By equating the eye to the old man’s ability to see more than what others see, Poe allows the narrator to explore the idea that this eye can see his weakness; the evil that lies in the narrator’s heart and that which makes him unacceptable. Knowing that he is damaged makes the narrato...
Does the narrator show weakness through this mental illness or is it a sophistical mind of a genius? This is the question that must be answered here. Throughout this discussion we will prove that the narrator is a man of a conscience mind and committed the crime of murder. Along with that we will expose Poe’s true significance of writing this short story, and how people were getting away with crime by justifying that they were insane.
One of the first things to note is how the house is used to represent the state of Roderick’s mind and physical appearance. The house is in disrepair and has a sinister feel to it. This is what the narrator saw and felt when he was reunited with his old friend. He felt the chill run down his spine as if something was wrong. He could sense fear in the air. Also, Roderick feels trapped inside his own house, as he is trapped inside his own mind. His mind, like the house, is...