When a Stranger Comes and Causes your House to Fall

659 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The fall of the house of usher edgar allan poe

Is it possible that two stories in the same genre can have completely different settings, but still end in similar ways? The two stories The Fall of the House of Usher and Where is Here? are both gothic stories. In The Fall of the House of Usher by: Edgar Allen Poe, the story begins with the narrator going to visit his old friend in an isolated house built on a swamp. In Where is Here? by: Joyce Carol Oates, the story is set in a quiet, residential neighborhood, then a stranger comes to visit. Although The Fall of the House of Usher and Where is Here? are both gothic pieces of literature, the settings in both stories have a clear difference, but have ending that are similar.
Even though the two stories The Fall of the House of Usher and Where is Here? are both gothic pieces, they begin in ver different ways. In the beginning of The Fall of the House of Usher the visitor is also the narrator. This gives information that that he has come to meet Roderick Usher in time of distress because he was Roderick's only friend growing up. "During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day... when the cloud hung oppressively low in the heavens... as the shades of evening drew on... and at length found myself... within view of the melancholy House of Usher" (Poe, 293). The narrator (the visitor) explains in this quote the mood of the House of Usher, and the setting around it. He also shows the depression, and isolation that must come from living in a place like this. In the story Where is Here? the setting begins completely differently. It opens up with a normal family, living a normal life, in a normal neighborhood. "...They had lived in their in a quiet, residential neighborhood" (Oates 325). Tis quote really shows that this f...

... middle of paper ...

...swamp it was built on. The ending of Where is Here? is similar because of the fact that the house went back to its original eerie, depressing ways. "...The lights were flickering..., the pattered wallpaper seemed drained of color..., the robust green of the carpeting looked faded... In the kitchen the lights were dim and an oder of sourish smoke, subtle but unmistakable, made her nostrils pinch." (Oates, 332). From this quote it is easy to tell the depressing mood that comes after the stranger left. Even the same sort of pain that had once occurred in the house, fell upon the new family.
The two stories The Fall of the House of Usher and Where is Here? have obvious differences in setting, but end in similar ways. So is this true with all gothic pieces of literature? The answer is yes, if you count that all gothic literature ends in a depressing, or an eerie way.

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Poe's Fall Of The House Of Usher And Where Is Here?

    400 Words  | 1 Pages

    The castles and mansions that provide the settings for traditional Gothic tales are full of grandeur, darkness, and decay. These settings are one of the most recognizable elements of traditional Gothic fiction. Setting is equally as important in modern Gothic literature as well. While the settings in the two stories, “Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe and “Where Is Here?” by Joyce Carol Oates, are incredibly different, they are also very similar.

    Read More

  • Comparing The Fall Of The House Of Usher And The House Taken Over

    680 Words  | 2 Pages

    For the stories “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The House Taken Over”, there is similarities in these stories. In the “The Fall of House Of Usher”, The story begins with the unnamed narrator arriving at the house of his friend, Roderick

    Read More

  • Comparing Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher and Taylor’s Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    From the onset of the story, it is apparent that Poe is employing a gothic theme upon his work. The narrator’s portrayal of the home of his longtime friend, Roderick Usher was as follows, “I looked upon the scene before me – upon the bleak walls – upon the vacant eye-like windows – upon a few rank sedges – and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees” (Poe, 75). T...

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Pit And The Pendulum And Fall Of The House Of Usher

    303 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Pit and the Pendulum and the Fall of the House of Usher are both dark and both have a gothic writing style to them. Edgar Allen Poe is known for his gothic writing style. In the Fall of the House of Usher he uses dark, gloomy, and suspenseful verbs. In the Pen and the Pendulum he uses suspense and a dark atmosphere.

    Read More

  • Effects Of Roderick In The Fall Of The House Of Usher

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Examples Of Foreshadowing In The Fall Of The House Of Usher

    1975 Words  | 4 Pages

    I believe the author choose a different kind of narrator to make the story seem more gloomy and mysterious, while also giving the reader the feeling of helplessness and claustrophobia. He did this to use the unity of effect to make the story more dark and mysterious. He achieved this effect by making the narrator more sane and giving us an outsider perspective of the House of Usher.

    Read More

  • Poe's Fall of The House of Usher Essays: Suspense

    418 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Fall Of The House Of Usher And House Taken Over

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over” the settings are similar because they can both be described as dark in some passages, and ultimately alluring. However in Poe’s “The Fall of the House,” the setting is revolving around the climax, so it is all very dramatic and highly detailed, almost ominous. In contrast, Cortazar’s setting is slightly more laid back, things take place in time and it is all very dreamlike.

    Read More

  • Haunted Houses: Reality or Hoax?

    1946 Words  | 4 Pages

    My Surbaban Pittsburg, Pa HAunted House. (2014, April 24). Retrieved from Your Ghost Stories: Http://www.yourghoststories.com

    Read More

  • fall of the house of usher

    648 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, the setting can have a great impact on where a story is headed. The setting itself can affect your prejudices, your moods and even give you a seeing eye into the future. Whether the setting is dark and dreary or light hearted and peaceful, it can greatly change the direction of the plot line. In the Fall of the House of Usher, the entire story is driven by and affected by the setting which eventually deteriorates and splits in two, as a sort of symbol being held together by Usher and his twin sisters souls.

    Read More

  • The Fall of the House of Usher

    655 Words  | 2 Pages

    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”

    Read More

  • Magical Realism In The Fall Of The House Of Usher

    404 Words  | 1 Pages

    The two who live there are brother and sister. The brother enjoys french literature, while the sister enjoys knitting. One day the brother heard a noise in their house and thought it was someone/something trying to take over their house. He shut the door to the side of the house that he heard the noise and told his sister that their house was being taken over. A few days or so later he hears a similar noise and decides they need to get out of the house so he takes his sister and moves out onto the street. In The Fall of the House of Usher, the gothic style is portrayed when the man's twin sister comes back from the "dead" and attacks her brother. In House Taken Over, mythical realism is shown in the brother hearing things in the house. He fantasizes all of the noises there isn't really anybody/anything there. The two stories both involve a brother and sister who like is the same house. The stories are both very interesting to read.The stories portray their genres very well. I like the gothic style more than the magical realism

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Fall Of The House Of Usher And The Tell Tale Heart

    1165 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poe sets the setting as dark and gloomy, most likely to give the reader the death is in the air vibe in the beginning of “The Fall of the House of Usher”. “There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart - an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of the sublime. What was it - I paused to think - what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of the House of Usher?” The narrator, who is nameless throughout the whole story, receives a letter from an old childhood friend. According to the letter Roderick, the narrator’s childhood friend, has invited the narrator

    Read More

  • Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Employs Typical Features of the Gothic Tradition

    958 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the most important aspects of any Gothic novel is setting. Mary Shelly's Frankenstein is an innovative and disturbing work that weaves a tale of passion, misery, dread, and remorse. Some would argue that Frankenstein is a classic Gothic novel. By a classically Gothic novel it is meant that the story employs a traditionally scary theme. This could include such things as dark and dreary castles set in isolated surroundings replete with dungeons. Supernatural beings such as ghosts and living dead may be included in the twisted, thrilling, unveiling tale. The novel does contain many Gothic characteristics in a sense that it does explore the uses of dark dreary basements, where the monstrous creature is made. Frankenstein is not set in a dull and dreary basement but you could say that where Frankenstein worked on his creation to be a gloomy dreary room. There is a struggle between good and evil throughout the story, an example of this is seen in Victor Frankenstein and his monster. We also get a lot of suspense around the person who is next to be murdered or die. An example of this is before Elizabeth dies when Victor Frankenstein is anticipating his own death.

    Read More

  • The House Of Usher Response

    633 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about When a Stranger Comes and Causes your House to Fall

Open Document