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Usher Mental Illness
The Fall of the House of Usher is another one of Edgar Allen Poe's mysterious short stories that
leave the audience with many unanswered questions. The narrator arrives at the House of Usher that
is owned by his childhood friend Roderick Usher whom he wishes to help. Roderick Usher isn't
actually diagnosed with any sort of definite mental disorder although we do know something isn't
right in his mind. Along with that, he is utterly and extremely scared of fear itself which leads him to
believe that he may indeed die of the fear that he is filled with. Roderick's twin sister, Madeline,
suffers from catalepsy and has seizures frequently. One day, Roderick tells the narrator that she is
dead when really she is just in the midst of a seizure. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Usher then blurts out in a taut way that his twin sister who appeared dead isn't actually dead and that
she is coming. Immediately after, the door bursts open, and bloody Madeline walks in and falls into
her brother who dies along with her. Did Roderick know the entire time that Madeline wasn't
actually dead? How did Roderick know
she was coming? Why did Roderick randomly decide to blurt out that his sister isn't actually dead
while the narrator is reading to Usher? The audience will never know.
Roderick declares Madeline is dead just by assuming that she is dead because she appears dead
during one of her seizures, he then decides not to bury her, he immediately locks her in a vault under
his bed, and he then blurts out that his sister isn't actually dead in the middle of a story that the
narrator is reading to him. The audience will never know the reasons why Usher acted the way he
did in these certain situations... although, what the audience can infer is that maybe his unhealthy
state of mind is the reason why he acts so much different that people with a healthy state of
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The Usher Madness
Madness lurks in even the most "normal" people. During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless
day in the autumn of the year... (Poe). This is an appropriate setting given Usher's overly–acute
senses; he can't handle bright lights or sounds, and so the story's setting is dull and soundless. ....
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. (Poe). The Usher estate is made to seem as though it is its own isolated
world, different and separate from normal reality. His voice varied rapidly from a tremulous
indecision (when the animal spirits seemed utterly in abeyance) to that ... Show more content on
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Although, as boys, we had been even intimate associates, yet I really knew little of my friend. His
reserve had been always excessive and habitual (Poe). Even as the narrator gets to know Roderick
again, there remains a barrier between them. Roderick remains excessively reserved. I had learned,
too, the very remarkable fact, that the stem of the Usher race, all time–honoured as it was, had put
forth, at no period, any enduring branch; in other words, that the entire family lay in the direct line
of descent, and had always, with very trifling and very temporary variation, so lain (Poe). The Usher
family was as self–isolating and out of touch as Madeline and Roderick seem to be. 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). There is a sense of confinement here; the windows are out
of reach, to escape is impossible. Friendship is a lot like food. We need it to survive. Human beings
have fundamental need for inclusion in group life and for close relationships. A lack of close friends
and a of social contact generally bring humans emotional discomfort or distress, as it is clearly
evident in The Fall of House Usher. Madness and isolation walk hand in hand, rarely does one not
have a grip on the
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The House Of The Usher
The "Fall of The House of The Usher" is a novel that gives the thrill of a family who has a troubled
lifestyle. The story is told completely through one character, the narrator. The narrator is not given a
name or any background information. The narrator is merely a door that opens to the reader to see
the story clearly through his eyes. Throughout the story, the narrator slowly becomes a character of
his own and he gets his own personality and thoughts. Him becoming his own character in the story
shows his good reliability as a narrator. He starts to develop a horrific thoughts through the story and
later as he leaves the house he is a changed person. The "Fall of The House of Usher" starts off with
a nameless person receiving an unexpected ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
From entering the Usher household blank and faceless, he left the house with the characteristics of
Madeline and Roderick. The narrator is scarred for life from what he witnessed and went through
during his stay at the mansion. Poe purposefully transfers the qualities of the Ushers to the narrator.
The narrator is very different from most narrators as he is able to tell the story clearly and have an
effect on outcomes of it. In the past, the Usher family was known for starting a pure bloodline
through incest. Throughout the generations the tradition on incest and keeping their bloodline pure
was passed down as older family passed away. In a way, Roderick and Madeline passed down their
mental illness to the narrator. Poe lends the narrator qualities of a character through his experience
of the events that took place in the household. Poe makes the narrator into his own character by
involving him in the story and allowing him to change the outcome of the events in the story. From
the beginning of the story, the narrator has been a window to see the life of Roderick Usher. The
narrator is questioned to be unreliable in the story as he is believed to be so accustomed to the life of
Roderick Usher. The narrator in the story is reliable to an extent as he is Roderick's childhood friend
and would not falsely tell details about his experience in the mansion. The narrator doesn't seem as
shocked to the outburst from Roderick and Madeline coming back from the tomb which shows he is
familiar with gothic emotions. He starts off as an outsider but begins to see the story unfold in front
of
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House Of Usher
Gothic literary traditions began in the middle ages and were used to evoke the reader's emotions of
fear and suspense. The elements within the stories were heavily described to add to the author's tone
and mood of the reader. Edgar Allan Poe is a well known author in Gothic literature, one of his
pieces "The Fall of the House of Usher" is a Gothic short story that features a grim tone using
Gothic elements to draw the attention of the readers. The intentions of Gothic authors were to give
the readers a look into the dark side of the time in which the book is written. Poe uses a grim tone
throughout "The Fall of the House of Usher" and expresses it through the setting of the story and the
imagery he uses. Poe uses an intensely described setting ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The narrator sees Roderick's painting he describes it as "One of the phantasmagoric conceptions of
my friend, partaking not so rigidly of the spirit of abstraction, may be shadowed forth, although
feebly, in words. A small picture presented the interior of an immensely long and rectangular vault
or tunnel, with low walls, smooth, white, and without interruption or device. Certain accessory
points of the design served well to convey the idea that this excavation lay at exceeding depth below
the surface of the earth."(Page 420) He went into such detail only talking about a painting he was
looking at. Just by the way he describes it you can see in your head what he is describing. The vault
is so deep no light gets into it, it's a deep dark place of rest with no way life can get in or out. Laying
awake days after Madeline was put to rest, the narrator claims " I endeavored to believe that much,
if not all of what I felt, was due to the bewildering influence of the gloomy furniture of the room–of
the dark and tattered draperies, which, tortured into motion by the breath of a rising tempest, swayed
fitfully to and fro upon the walls, and rustled uneasily about the decorations of the bed." (Page 425)
Poe's use of eloquent imagery makes the reader feel as if they are in the story. His compelling use of
words when describing details makes it easier to read and
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The Fall Of The House Of Usher
Edgar Allen Poe's short story The Fall of the House of Usher was very captivating. Once I began
reading the story I couldn't put the book down till I was done. I believe the protagonist in the story
was Roderick Usher. I always assumed a protagonist to be heroic in some way. Roderick Usher's
character, however, was not heroic. Usher was not only a hypochondriac, but he was a mentally and
physically sick man. I have no doubt that a lot of his mental and physical maladies sprouted from
years of inbreeding in his family: I had learned, too, the very remarkable fact, that the stem of the
Usher race, all time–honored as it was, had put forth, at no period, any enduring branch; in other
words, that the entire family lay in direct line of descent, and had always, with very trifling and very
temporary variation, so lain. (Poe, 1839, p.703). Roderick and his sister Madeline were not only
slaves of their family's bloodline, they were also slaves of their house. I found Madeline and the
house to be the antagonists in this story. It seemed that as the house and Roderick's sister
deteriorated, so did our protagonist. In the start of the story the house was still in one piece, but it
was falling apart slowly in strange ways, such as actual rocks deteriorating, "No portion of the
masonry had fallen; and there appeared to be a wild inconsistency between its still perfect adaption
of parts, and the utterly porous, and evidently decayed condition of the individual
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The Fall Of The House Of Usher
At first, the erratic, ambiguous, and disorientating narrative style of 'The Fall of the House of Usher'
seems to lack consistent symbolism, and can be understood as a convention of the gothic genre.
Macabre texts often employ unreliable narrators to convey readers down circuitous paths littered
with false steps and red herrings, in order to postpone, and perhaps even prevent, arrival at singular
interpretations of stories. In 'The Fall of the House of Usher', the narrator suddenly and ambiguously
reveals facts about the house and its inhabitants, and couches his observations in ornate and turgid
language. These features seem superfluous, but force readers to collude in the mysterious,
entertaining and infinite game of engineered interpretation that the gothic genre revels in.
Nevertheless, a second reading of the text reveals uncanny similarities between the narrator and
Roderick– both men ultimately share a belief in "the sentience of all vegetable things" (185),
possess the power to distort the distinction between art and reality, and suffer from "a morbid
acuteness of the senses" (181). This suggests that the malady plaguing the surviving branches of the
Usher family has infected the narrator. Therefore, the perplexing, and oftentimes infuriating
narrative style of 'The Fall of the House of Usher' reflects both authorial manipulation essential to
create a suspenseful gothic tale, and also unconscious manipulation by the mentally disturbed
narrator (itself a gothic
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Usher Romanticism
In the tale of "The Fall of the House of Usher" two twins, a brother and sister, have a twisted
relationship. Roderick, the brother, invites one of his childhood friends to come for a visit but that
friend does not realize what he is getting into until he sees what the house looks like and steps inside
(Poe 292). Roderick Usher best exemplifies dark romanticism. He shows the best of dark
romanticism because he has a problem with the outside world and never leaves his home. He has a
disease that causes him to experience his senses worst that most (Poe 294). He has little guilt in his
life because he tried to "help" his sister by burying her alive (Poe 304). He has a lot of evil in him
because even though he tried to bury Madeline alive, he failed
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House Of Usher Symbolism
Poe's gloomy and ominous short story, "The Fall of the House of Usher," begins with the nameless
narrator (most likely Poe himself) describing his journey to the House of Usher after Roderick, one
of the last two remaining members in the Usher family and proprietor of "the melancholy House of
Usher" (3), summons the nameless narrator to visit him: "I looked upon the scene before me–upon
the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain–upon the bleak walls...with an
utter depression of soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation [to]" (3). Here, we see the first
signs of the house as a supernatural entity whose beauty can only be seen by people on opium.
Without the use of opium, however, the house remains depressing and lifeless. Poe uses the house as
a symbol of society at the time: forsaken without the use opium. ... Show more content on
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Continuing with the symbolism of society's addiction to opium, Poe claims that the transcendental
and sentient house serves as the main cause of Roderick's and his sister's illnesses. Moreover, we
can see some withdrawal symptoms when the narrator meets Roderick: " He suffered much from a
morbid acuteness of the senses; the most insipid food was alone endurable; he could wear only
garments of certain texture; the odors of all flowers were oppressive; his eyes were tortured by even
a faint light; and there were but peculiar sounds, and these from stringed instruments, which did not
inspire him with horror"
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Roderick Usher Downfall
The short story The Fall of the House of the Usher is a mind twisting tale that will make one
question the peculiarities of this world. It brings up the capabilities of one's mind and how what one
sees and processes can lead to various things. Some people can be very influential, and can diminish
others thoughts and mind, such as Roderick Usher. Unintentionally, he affects all of those around
them, just like our narrator, who eventually joins him in becoming insane.
At the beginning of the story, the Roderick Usher sends the narrator a letter. He states that he is
mentally ill, and would like to see his old friend. So the narrator gets his things together and heads
that way to meet with Roderick. He later arrives at this huge house, at which
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The Fall Of The House Of Usher
At the beginning of the story there is a very negative feeling being attached to the appearance of the
house. He uses a couple of things to try and make you feel negatively about this place. He used
words and phrases such as: "insufferable gloom," "vacant," "black and lurid," and the "rank sedges"
were mentioned too. These are obviously there to give a sort of a bad connotation, or bad karma, to
the house. He speaks of how the house has a "wild inconsistency" and how each individual stone is
starting to decay and fall apart. Suggesting that the house has many problems, all problems that
could possibly lead to the destruction of a house. One of the central themes underlying the story, The
Fall of the House of Usher, is that of the nature of the house. The way it is described and the way it
is so mysterious. Another central theme about this story is the nature of the people that live in the
house. They are portrayed very much in the same manner throughout the story. Thus, they have
several similarities with each other. All of which are of a bad feeling, showing how bad things are
for the people and the house. These similarities are very well laid out in the story and are, I believe,
meant to be something to be considered when reading it.
The gothic imagery that fills "Usher" reflects a style of literature that had emerged during the late
eighteenth century and was flourishing in the early decades of the nineteenth. The large mysterious
castle filled with dark corners and
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The Fall Of The House Of The Usher
Edgar Allen Poe stories are viewed as being supernatural and tragic; however, when given a closer
look there is much more to meet the eye. His stories give the readers an insight of his life and a more
profound meaning than what 's on the surfaces. "Although Poe was not the social outcast that
Baudelaire conceived him to be, he was, and still is, perhaps the most thoroughly misunderstood of
all American write" (Stovall 417). Poe 's poems and short stories can be analyzed in serval different
perspectives. Take such as, Poe 's "The Fall of the House of the Usher" can be interpreted for most
people as a story about a bizarre relationship between sister and brother. The story appears to just be
about a family that only marries within the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Roderick is following the same path as the Usher 's, which they have been doing for many
generations, before him. He had no other choice and through the years was molded to believe that he
should be his own sister 's lover. They were raised more of future lovers than as siblings. The line
between lovers and family was never drawn for them, so the family secret also stayed with their
family. The secrets sealed "in the direct line of descent" (Poe 703). Another key factor for
intermarriage is to keep any property they own in the Usher 's name. The family house could
possibly be the last thing that the Usher own. Once the house fall in someone else handles who
knows what could have happened. The house was not in the greatest structures, one flaw being the
crack that ran down the center of the house. That house held everything that was the Usher and
when Roderick and Madeline died the house came down right after them. The tragedy to love
someone, but cannot be with them is the downfall of the Ushers and their history. Roderick and
Madeline are a twisted story of Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet with the exact same ending, both
lovers dies. Poe took that love story and turned it into his own twisted of his love story. Two–star
cross lovers that just want to live in peace in
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Usher Transformation
Fear and transformation are almost like a pigment of imagination. What may be scary to you may
not be to another person at all. In the first unit we experienced many stories that have transformation
and fear. Three specific stories show humans, a house and setting. In the next few paragraphs I will
be talking about all of those things.
In the story "The Fall of The House of Usher" by Edgar Allen Poe he uses many different situations
to scare the reader. Poe is a really good writer and especially when it comes to disturbing stories. He
uses the season autumn to show a drastic change in weather. Overall the story has a downhill
transformation from life to death. It also has a physical/spiritual transcendence.
The next story which has transformation
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The Fall Of The House Of Usher
The Fall of the House of Usher Analysis The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe is a
very dark and eerie story. This gothic tale is very complexly written, as many of Poe's works are. In
this story, there were two main themes that stood out: fear and friendship. The fear of Roderick
Usher as well as the narrator's fear and the friendship of the two. And although there are many
elements of this story that are noteworthy, most importantly though is the authors vagueness
throughout. The theme of fear in this story is present throughout. The narrator was uneasy to say the
least upon his first glimpse of the house and about the house in general throughout the story. As well
as his fear for his friends well–being. Roderick Usher's fear
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The Fall Of The House Of Usher
"The Fall of the House of Usher" has been noted as one of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous short
stories. The story begins when the narrator arrives at the house of his friend, Roderick Usher.
Roderick is ill and has been living his life deeply reclusive. His sister Madeline suffers from a
sensory disorder and is considered to be dead. The narrator attempts to comfort Roderick and
alleviate his melancholy by reading a story that appears to foreshadow later events. In this story, Poe
provides his audience with classic themes such as fear, madness, and most important, identity.
Through psychoanalytical criticism the reader can explore and gather a deeper understanding of the
literary work. A comprehensive analysis of psychoanalytical criticism and the characters mental
state in "The Fall of the House of Usher" will provide an in–depth interpretation of the characters
and of the work.
One of the first observations that is made about the narrator is the fact that he is does not have a
name. The lack of a name implies that the narrator is an outsider from the Usher family whose main
purpose is to narrate the story and to serve as a guide through the Usher house. Throughout "The
Fall of the House of Usher," the narrator demonstrates a sense of pre–occupation. At times, he seems
to have trouble classifying reality from hallucination and is possibly under the influence of drugs.
The narrator compares his "depression of soul" to the "after–dream of the reveler upon Opium" (Poe
654). He
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House Vs Usher Analysis
The author develops the comparison of Ushers mind and house. For examples, the narrator describes
the house, when saying, "Minute fungi overspread the whole exterior, hanging in a fine tangled
web–work" (Poe, 6). The author also develops the imagery of the house when stating "old wood–
work which has rotted for long years" (Poe, 6) By illustrating the houses condition, the reader can
understand the condition of the Usher family, and how it has been rotting and crumbling. In
comparison, the reader can compare the physical appearance of the house to Ushers mind, when the
narrator says, "He suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the senses" (Poe, 9) Both Usher and
the house are fading, so the reader can assume that they are somehow connected
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The Fall Of The House Of Usher
Summaries
The Fall of the House of Usher – A man, called by his friend Roderick Usher, seeks out the House of
Usher. Upon his arrival, he is astonished by the look of the house. He enters in, finding his friend in
despair. Roderick and his sister are each suffering from disease. Roderick tells the narrator that the
house is sentient. The sister dies, and is interred in the house's vault. During the week that follows,
both Usher and the narrator seem to become more anxious. One night, in an attempt to allay Usher's
fears, the narrator reads a book, The Mad Trist. During the reading, certain events in the book are
met with similar sounds in the house. Usher becomes more anxious as the narrator reads onward.
Finally, Usher becomes irrate, declaring his sister is alive and has been alive for the longest time
since interred. Usher opens the doors of the room, his sister enters seizes Usher. They both die, the
narrator flees the house and watches as the house breaks apart and is consumed by the ground. ...
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Struck by her beauty, he marries her. Ligeia dies a few years after though. The man moves to
London, marries a woman called Rowena. The marriage is loveless. Rowena becomes ill. She soon
dies. During his vigil, Rowena seems to be reviving, but keeps relapsing, each relapse longer and
more death–like. After numerous such revivals and relapses, the body stands and walks. The man
touches her, and the bandages fall away to reveal
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Fall Of The House Usher
The Fall of the House starts out using a narrow rational point of view from Edgar Allen Poe to
illustrate the eccentric, grotesque and dark effects of the house the appearance of it and also the
impact it had on the character within the house such as Roderick, Madeline and twins sister. Poe's
effective use of personification, foreshadowing, symbolism, and doubling create a morbid tale
leading to, the fall of (the house of) Usher and its what ultimately set the tone for gothic elements in
the story. Roderick and Madeline are both suffering from the alluring stranger illnesses and effects
that the house exhibits and illuminates. Roderick pragmatically suffers from the morbid acuteness of
the sense, because he believes that the
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Romanticism Of Usher
Dark romanticism is a sub genre of romanticism from the late 18th century with dark writing and
anti transcendentalist views. These stories include intense fascination, crime, and melancholia. Dark
romanticism writer, Edgar Allan Poe, wrote the prominent "The Fall of the House of Usher". "The
Fall of the House of Usher" is about an unknown narrator called to the mansion of his childhood
friend Roderick Usher for help. Poe writes with a solemn tone and demonstrates that when he is
describing the plot and the character traits.
Poe is an exceedingly solemn author and displays that in his writing of the plot. In "The Fall of the
House of Usher", Poe's tone is displayed when the narrator says "The disease which had thus
entombed the lady in the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
While describing Roderick Usher, Poe writes, "He suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the
senses; the most insipid food was alone endurable;" (416). Poe's solemn tone is displayed when he
utilizes grim and descriptive words to describe Usher. Poe later states "The disease of the lady
Madeline had long baffled the skill of her physicians. A settled apathy, a gradual wasting away of
the person, and frequent although transient affections of a partially cataleptical character, were the
unusual diagnosis." (416). Another example of Poe's tone is illustrated when the narrator says "His
ordinary manner had vanished. His ordinary occupations were neglected or forgotten. He roamed
from chamber to chamber with hurried, unequal, and objectless step. The pallor of his countenance
had assumed, if possible, a more ghastly hue ––but the luminousness of his eye had utterly gone
out." (425). In both of these quotes Poe's narrator illustrates both Roderick and Madeline's
characteristics with an extensively dark and solemn tone. The narrator expresses Poe's tremendously
a dark and solemn tone when he is describing Roderick and Madeline Usher.
In conclusion, Edgar Allan Poe writes in an intensely solemn tone he displays it when describing the
plot and the characters. In "The Fall of the House of Usher" Poe describes his characters with dark
and descriptive words. Furthermore, Poe writes his plot actions with key
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House Of Usher Tone
"Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality"– Edgar
Allan Poe. In Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Fall of the House of Usher", Poe expresses his
gloomy tone throughout his word choice and setting. Poe's use of detailed phrases and words with a
very distinctive connotation make the story more engaging to the audience. He states, "I had so
worked upon my imagination as really to believe that about the whole mansion and domain there
hung an atmosphere peculiar to themselves and their immediate vicinity–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" (415). This quote altogether is rich in the amount of ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
He sees the room inside the house as "large and lofty" (412) and even says that the small gleams of
light "made their way through the trellised panes" (line 18). His detailed description of the actual
rooms in the house helps create a gloomy tone. It allows the reader to picture the house in their head
while reading. He even describes the feeling he receives from the house. Poe states, "I know not
how it was– but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my
spirit. I say insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half–pleasurable, because
poetic, sentiment with which usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or
terrible" (lines 5–9). The feeling or response he develops from the house is a very important part of
the setting. He receives an "insufferable gloom" which makes the house seem even more dreary than
what is given off from the actual appearance of the house. His anxiousness applies to the gloomy
tone because he obtains a scary feeling from just being in the
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Illness In Roderick Usher
This story is really creepy mysterious but kind of fun to read In the story Roderick, usher Madeline
both have illness The narrator is the childhood friend of Roderick usher The house of has a
connection to all three of them living in the house The fall of the usher is creepy the narrator of the
story insane Roderick Madeline both have illness the narrator is childhood friend of Roderick usher
there's a strong connection to the house Roderick and Madeline both have illness Roderick has body
illness mental disorder Madeline also has a mental disorder there something wrong with both of
them Roderick helps his friend burry Madeline, Madeline is burry alive without them really
knowing . They all are going threw it in the house and need help
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The Fall Of The House Of Usher
Edgar Allen Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher", written in 1839, is a short story that describes
the final days of the Usher family. The tale begins as the narrator has been summoned by Roderick
Usher to provide him comfort during his mental illness. Through this narrator, Poe shares key
elements that substantiate the anti–Puritanism beliefs of the Ushers. Poe's description of the house
and surroundings set the gothic tone of the story. He describes the house as a "mansion of gloom"
surround by "decayed trees" allowing the reader to understand the uneasiness felt by the characters.
Puritan fear came strongly from the belief in the supernatural. The use of witchcraft and demons was
the Devils way of tempting Godly people to stray from
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Transformations In The Fall Of The House Of Usher
I just just glanced through my phone, swiping quickly to going through the photos of everyone's
snapchat story. But one word caught my eye: fire; it caught my eye but I did not really think about it
afterwards. Several hours later however, I was with my friends working on our english essay when
all of a sudden, I look up to see what looked like an enormous blanket of brown dust staining the
clear blue sky. There was a distinct line between the perfectly blue sky and the disgusting smoke
from the fire and this transformation that occurred so out of the blue causing both shock and awe
from me and my friends. Transformations play a role in stories meant to scare us by creating an
atmosphere of discomfort and uncertainty because the characters are unable to control the situation
around them. Through the short stories of "The Fall of the House of Usher", "House Taken Over",
and "Where is Here", the authors of those stories all elicit an atmosphere of fear through the
combined transformations of setting, mood, and characters. "The Fall of the House of Usher" change
occurs at the climax of the story where Roderick Usher falls into insanity. "House Taken Over'
changes when the mysterious intruders fully overtake the house and the siblings are forced to flee.
In "Where is Here" the stranger leaves the home which causes the house to fade in color, draining it
of life.
First, in "The Fall of the House of Usher" the author uses the transformation of Roderick Usher to
create an
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The Fall Of The House Of Usher
The setting of "The Fall of the House of Usher" contributes to the overall impact and significance of
the story by showing the parallels between the life of the Usher twins and the life of the house they
live in. In the beginning of the story the narrator describes the House as having a crack of fissure
running down the front of it. He says that if one looked closely they could see "the beginning of a
break in the front of the building, a crack making its way from the top down the wall until it became
lost in the dark waters of the lake" (2). This is representative of the divide growing between the two
siblings who live together in the house, which has its roots in their illnesses. The narrator claims that
he suspected the lake and the air
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The Fall Of The House Of Usher
The story of "The fall of the house of Usher" is categorized as a tragic short story published under
the name Edgar Allen Poe, and has proven over time to be a very illusive and vivid tale, as the
extensively descriptive vocabulary eludes readers to entrance them into such a gloomy experience,
of which the overtone of the story unpleasantly provides readers; as even then there is still no certain
meaning from which a person may derive the actual circumstance of which the passage may bring
unto them, while there are a multitude of different interpretations that are neither proved nor
disproved, only ones sense of perception may provide them a viable understanding of which the
passage may present them. Nonetheless the story no less significant or hazy, as it severely dwells on
the emotions and thoughts of the narrator who has the apparent displeasure of experiencing the
events that partake in this story, presenting such prolific portions of idea that can all but resist the
urge to unease the individual who may unfortunately come across this particularly eerie piece of
literature. The story begins with a small epigraph of a quote from a song written by an old French
musician that reads: "Son coeur est un luth suspendu; Sitot qu'on le touché il ressone". This roughly
translates to: His/her heart is a poised flute, as soon as it is touched, it resounds". The brief inclusion
of these lyrics leads me to believe that they were placed there before the execution of the story to
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Madeline Usher
Madeline Usher is an extra to the story when she is looked at. She does not have any lines
throughout the story. Madeline is absent from maximum of the story, and she and the narrator never
were in the same room together. When the narrator finally does see her, it was during his arrive as he
spoke with Roderick. "While he spoke, the lady Madeline (for so was she called) passed slowly
through a remote portion of the apartment, and, without having noticed my presence, disappeared"
(Poe 706). Madeline is more of a ghost that walks around the mansion. The narrator might not
mention Madeline that often, but through Rodrick's eyes and words her character forms. The
emotions that came with her brother when she first appears after Madeline depart from him and the
narrator. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Roderick expresses his love for his sister that he shades emotions towards her. He also describes
how she is very ill and he would not know what he would do with her. Madeline is overcome by her
illness and could have been with drove her into the state of being dead–like. The next time, that
Madeline is brought up, she has died and the narrator and Roderick are burning her in the Usher's
underground tomb. The mansion is a prison but also a sanctuary for Madeline. She has spent her
birth to death there. Never mingling with anyone else but her brother that would have soon been her
mate. Within their family line of incest, it was in their fate to fall for each
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Symbolism In The House Of Usher
The Symbolism behind the House of Usher
The story uses different forms of symbolism to convey themes and development of characters and
the plot. But the main symbol of the story is the Usher house, itself. The main symbolism behind the
home is to be the setting because through the house Poe wants to show the fear of the narrator and
Roderick's mental illness. The looming crisis can be felt in the air throughout the story because of
Poe's black tones that are used in all of his stories. The fine line between death and reality that Poe
twists is purposely done to showcase Roderick's mental illness. This showcases that the narrator and
readers know something is wrong with the House of Usher. This is found out later that through
generations of ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
To showcase how Roderick and Madeline see the world, the setting of the house is very strange and
borderline fiction. The narrator often asks themselves if this is a dream, because of all he is seeing
around him and how strange and out of reality the House of Usher is. The home is straight out of
one's nightmare and this helps the reader visualizes furthers the house as a symbol to see just how
deeply disturbed, dark, and morbid the Ushers are. Then, the isolated nature of the house describes
how lonely, disconnected, and sheltered the Usher family is. The strange ambiance of the setting
helps the reader see, that through the broken lens of the Ushers, just how lonely they are. Roderick,
not able to have offspring, goes insane, thus leaving him to feel alone cause his rampage of burying
his sister alive. The disconnect and brainwashing the Ushers went through not only hurts them but
kills the family in the end. Only having relationships within the family is what leads to the demise of
the beautiful mansion which is described by the narrator in his youth, and is also the gloomy palace
we see in the story. Without caring for the house because of the incapable family members, helps the
reader understand and see how greatly mental illness and distancing have affected the storyline.
In the beginning of the story, as the narrator describes the
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The House Of Usher
The Fall of The House of Usher" is one of Poe's longest pieces and is filled with literary elements.
One literary element among these is the double meaning which the house itself is. The house
represents the narrator's mind, and when the house falls it represents the fall in reason. Which
throughout the entirety of the story the narrator is slowly going insane to the point of complete
corruption. The narrator sees a crack in the house as he approaches it, the crack is small and thin, but
despite its width being subpar the fracture runs all the way from the top of the house to it's
foundation. Roderick Usher is clearly mentally unwell, just as he knows himself to be, so he sent out
a letter to his childhood friend, the narrator, asking for ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
As if Roderick doesn't have enough bouncing around in his head, the story is a fantasy about a
knight who slays some Monsters, like dragons. With his newfound degree in psychiatrics, the
narrator proceeds to read even when he is hearing loud noises that are much like the ones he is
reading in the story. The narrator does end up setting the book down but doesn't go to investigate the
noises, he instead stands there for a second when the door to the room is knocked down. The
narrator sees Madeline standing in the doorway battered and bruised, if she wasn't dead when she
was locked away she looked it now. In most horror movies "I see dead people" is a pretty good
indication that a person is completely out of their mind. For the narrator this was actually happening.
Roderick is the one who really reacted to this sight and approached her, when he did this Madeline
fell onto him and he died instantly. R.I.P. Roderick Death by falling sister (don't know– don't care).
The narrator then does the most sane thing he has done in the entire story and books it out of the
house. As he leaves the house he looks back the once tiny crack which has grown tremendously and
the house falls to the ground. The narrator after having seen the most agonizing death known to
man, death by falling sister, goes completely insane. As the house crumbles to the ground
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
Roderick Usher
In "The Fall of the House of Usher," Roderick Usher sends out a letter to an old friend from college
and requests for him to visit Roderick Usher because he was suffering from health issues. The
narrator feels a sense dreary as he arrives at Roderick Usher's home. Roderick Usher is a very ill
man who lives isolated in an old creepy house with his sister in a place isolated from civilization and
when the narrator met Roderick, and he describes Roderick Usher in a very distinct way from
regular people; he sees that Roderick Usher has physical actions and characteristics of a vampire.
Roderick Usher is a vampire because the location of Usher's home is located in a creepy place,
which is isolated from the rest of the community. When anybody thinks ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Roderick Usher could be a vampire because "his eyes were tortured by even a faint light," and that is
why Usher's home has his windows built high up close to the ceiling in his home so that as little sun
as possible could shine through the windows (Poe 417). After the narrator greets him at Usher's
home, the way he describes Usher tells the reader how similar Usher is to a vampire. His appearance
made him question if Usher is dead or alive, because the narrator expresses him "whereas the dead
objects seem "alive," the "live" things seem dead," because of his cadaverous body that lacks food
since the only thing he can eat is other items besides human food (Neilson 3). The narrator observes
that Usher "suffered from a morbid acuteness of the senses; the most insipid food was alone
endurable" (Poe 417). Usher is not of the types of vampires that can only rely on blood from
humans, but he is a vampire who "support his life and re–energize his frame by drawing upon the
vitality of others" (Bailey
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House Of Usher
Edgar Allen Poe is very effective at spooking readers and making them feel a sense of mystery with
very vague stories."The Fall of the House of Usher's" setting , characters, and theme all make the
story what it is.The Fall of the House of Usher uses gothic elements to create an uncomfortable and
spooky setting.
The House of Usher's appearance inside and outside uses gothic elements to attribute to the feel of
the story. The outside of the House of Usher causes the reader to feel uneasy. "Our unnamed
narrator, as soon as he looks at the house, he feels a sense of dread, just kind of pervade him."
(Stringfield) Before even stepping in the house, the House of Usher managed to cause the narrator to
anticipate the horrors to come from the building. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Edgar Allen Poe was familiar with vampire stories and their gothic elements."Poe was sufficiently
familiar with gothic materials and techniques [...] and both male and female vampires abound in
literature by the time he published his contribution to the genre in 1839." (Kendall 1) Poe's prior
knowledge of vampire stories very well could lead him to writing his own vampire story himself,
which can be seen in this story as Usher and Madeline have vampire–like qualities. "The Fall of the
House of Usher" can be seen as a whole as the slow drop into insanity of someone."Thus 'The Fall
of the House of Usher' can be read as the effusion of an irrational mind not only about the loss of
sanity but itself an example of that theme." (William 2) Poe wrote "The Fall of the House of Usher"
in a way that makes it so someone can read it and have the whole picture be seen as someone
becoming insane. The ruined condition of the house can be seen as Usher's mental state and the
collapse being his mind breaking and him going mad. Edgar Allen Poe wrote "The Fall of the House
of Usher" in many ways that all attribute to the story in a way that the story would benefit.
"The Fall of the House of Usher" uses gothic elements to create an uncomfortable and spooky
setting. Edgar Allen Poe wrote a story that can be interpreted in many different ways with diverse
and creepy
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The Fall Of The House Of Usher
The fall of the house of Usher is a gothic, short story written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1839. At the
beginning of the story Poe creates horror and mysterious mood. He uses phrases like "dull, dark, and
soundless day; shades of the evening; melancholy." When the narrator looks at the house, he says
"with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit." The house
is personified, the windows are "eye–like" and the fungi "hanging in a fine tangled web–work from
the eaves." is like hair. It is what the narrator first and last see and its presence is important in the
story. Poe also uses it metaphorically meaning the Usher family. The genre is gothic. We can find
the gothic tale elements such as the haunted castle, the dreary landscape. We also do not know when
or where the event takes place. The sense of death and fear come along with us throughout the
whole story. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
We can read the story from a first person point of view, which means we can only know about his
experiences and thoughts. He is a mysterious character and we do not find out more about him. He
goes to this castle because his "boon companions on boyhood" Roderick Usher writes him a letter,
complaining about his illness and asking for his help. The narrator confess that although they were
good friends as a child, he really know little of his friend now. It is very odd that despite of this, he
spends weeks with Roderick trying to help him. He says that "it was the apparent heart that went
with his request...which allowed me no room for
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Downfall Of Usher
In the story "The Fall of the House of Usher" written by Edgar Allen Poe, is widely acknowledged
to be one of Poe's finest and most representative tales. The character in the story all have a
mysterious, dark, evil mood. The unnamed narrator visits the Usher family house after Roderick
sends him an emotional letter begging him to come. While he seems skeptical of the supernatural
and tries to find rational explanations for the disconcerting things happening around him, the
narrator finds himself growing increasingly disturbed by the house crumble and fall into a small
lake. The narrator has been described as an objective witness to the events in the story, with some
suggesting he represents rationality. Madeline Usher the twin sister of Roderick ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
Also Roderick and Madeline have been in the house for many prolong hours, men have need and
there are no signs indicating that Roderick ever leaves that house let alone would have another girl
around. As the story progresses, Roderick attempts to relate his fear to the narrator and engages in
numerous activities including playing the guitar, creating a disturbing painting, and composing a
lyric entitled "The Haunted Palace" in attempt to clam himself. There also can elaborate more on the
idea that there was incest also an example showing what kind of power men had on women. Later
on in the story the most compelling discussion of this madness comes in the final scene when
Roderick comes to the narrator's room. He enters very agitated and opens a window to the raging
storm, as the narrator reads the novel "Mad Trist" Roderick sits sullenly in a chair looking at the
door. They both hear noises outside the door and Roderick speaks, "Said I not that my senses were
acute" Roderick explains that he hear noises from the tomb for several days "'Not hear it?–yes, I
hear it, and have heard
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House Of Usher
Edgar Allan Poe short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" begins without a valid explanation of
the narrator's motives for arriving at the house of his childhood friend Roderick Usher. Starting the
story with this mystery and unclearness sets the tone for a plot that compares the real world and the
supernatural. The narrator is trapped in the way of behaving of his friend Roderick. Even if the
narrator wants to escape, he cannot until the house of Usher collapses completely. Characters are, in
a certain way, trapped. Without a way to escape from the big and mysterious house, the characters
cannot act and move freely. Because of this, we can assume that the house evokes a diabolical
character of its own. Since the beginning, the most important ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
In fact, we do not know which is the setting of the story. House of Usher shows a gothic side. Its
surroundings are described by the impressions that the author has created with his own mind. The
narrator shows that he is also very nervous because of the landscape in front of him. He defines the
windows as "vacant–eye like windows" but he takes worse fright from its image reflected in the
"black and lurid tarn" which lurks around and beneath it. In the short story, the house is clearly
connected to the surroundings. The exterior of the house is infested with fungi that grow along the
tall walls. The fungi are interpreted as a symbol that it is represented as poisoned place because
some fungus is poisoned. In the text says: "Minute fungi overspread the whole exterior, hanging in a
fine tangled web–work from the eaves." Another very important symbol that the narrator saw from
the beginning was the crack in the middle of the house that seemed very small but eventually at the
end of the story split in two by making the house fall. The crack is connected to the Usher family
because the family it was also divided, and it was only a matter of time before it fell and that
happened to the house too. The narrator comments in the text: "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
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House Of Usher Manipulation
The Fall of the House of Usher is a story written by Poe that demonstrates the ability for the rational
mind to rapidly deteriorate upon influence, as it represents the fall of reasoning. The narrator's mind
begins to lack the ability to make sense of the strange things occurring in the house, and by the end
he has lost his mind, but manages to escape the brink of mental insanity upon the collapse of the
House of Usher. In the beginning, the narrator shows up to the house upon request from one of his
childhood friends, Roderick Usher. Immediately he takes note of the strange phantasmic aura the
house gives off, and the peculiarities of Usher and his sister/wife. Throughout the story, he notes the
feeling of agitation given off by his friend, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In addition to the eerie happenings within the house contributing to the insanity of both the narrator
and Usher, the phantasm of Madeline and the daily readings of Gothic literature begin to rapidly
submerge the narrator in doubtful hallucinations and the questionability of his own sanity. Thus, The
Fall of the House of Usher is a story that represents how the mind under influence performs, and
how reason no longer becomes a mental aspect once the mental state begins to see things that may
or may not be
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Usher Alliteration
Poe uses metaphor and alliteration in combination with vivid description to establish a mood of
heavy pressure while introducing his theme of alienation in "The Fall of the House of Usher." over
everyday events and is a central theme in the course of this story. A haughty and vocal sailor falls ill
after complaining about the sick and gets thrown overboard, taking the last of the sickness with him,
leaving the rest of the healthy passengers safe and praising God's grace. Later there comes a time
when the ship is missing a screw and a sailor happens to have one to fix the ship. This might
possibly be the greatest miracle of all because the ship can continue its journey instead of waiting to
capsize. After getting to Plymouth, they fall ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This was due to the fact that Edward believed the Bible was a source of knowledge and historical
truths. This meant that Hell was a real place; the boundaries of Christianity could not be debated;
God's power was huge and his wrath unforgiving; the time to repent was coming to an end and only
God put off the Last Judgment. The sermon relies on fire and brimstone imagery, long sentences,
rhetoric, repetition and the use of similes throughout the deliverance to deliver its message. During
the sermon he likens God's wrath to many things such as: "Dreadful pit of glowing flames"; "Like
great waters that are dammed for the present"; "Black clouds of God's wrath, full of the dreadful
storm, and big with thunder"; "The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the
string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart." He views God as merciless and unrelenting by
saying that "God will no longer hold them up in these slippery places, but will let them go..."
Edwards uses tools such as predestination to scare his listeners by saying "They are already under a
sentence of condemnation to hell." He repetitively mentions the fact that "it is only the power and
mere pleasure of God that holds you up." His use of long sentences that drag on and on, creating a
mood of depression and frustration although he
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
Fall Of Usher
The Fall of the House of Usher is an enticing tale of insanity, death, and unadulterated fear. The
short story, The Fall of the House of Usher, is gothic fiction and is written by Edgar Allan Poe.
Certain elements in the story and the actions of Madeline, Roderick Usher's sister, causes Usher to
go completely insane and almost brings the narrator to the brink of insanity. Through specific gothic
elements such as emotions, the eerie and mysterious setting, and the supernatural, Poe successfully
achieves a suspenseful mood within his short story.
At the end of The Fall of the House of Usher, when the house sinks and falls, it is because of his
insanity and his belief that his sister died that the house sank and fell. Instead, she did not die ...
Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
However, some people argue that it was her illness that made her portray these 'death–like'
symptoms, which is why they entombed her. The illness of Madeline can be mistaken for death
because it makes her unable to move and her body becomes completely rigid. "She is terminally ill
and suffers fits of catalepsy, meaning she appears rigid and does not move for long periods of time.
[...] Some critics have suggested that Madeline's illness is the result of a long history of incestual
breeding in the Usher family; others believe that she possesses evil powers and is, in fact, a
vampire." (Wilson par. 15) Her illness causes rigidness throughout the body for long periods of time
and, because of this, both the narrator and Usher assumed she was dead. Madeline Usher was angry
that she was entombed so she came back and critics and some readers assume she was a vampire
because of this. Usher knew that she was still alive and when he tried to share that with the narrator
he ignored him and blamed his assumption on his sanity. "It's not Roderick who's the vampire, it
could be Madeline, well she does come back from the dead after several days. [...] which could be
that she's returned from the dead as a vampire. Also, Roderick, some critics think that Roderick's
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
House Of Usher Setting
Mysterious, captivating, dark, and eerie are some factors that can come to mind when considering
the stories composed by Edgar Allan Poe. The Fall of the House of Usher is no deviant from those
factors, and leads to many open doors of observation. From the very beginning Poe encloses the
setting within an eerie mood, bringing readers though the gothic archway leading to a house of
sorrow, foreboding fear all throughout.
Poe's horror setting development is both symbolic and descriptive. "The Fall of the House of Usher
is merely an adventitious product of atmosphere" (Darrel, 380). Darrel points out the double
importance of the descriptiveness of the setting and the symbolism, because often the elements of
horror are solely accredited to the descriptions themselves. The description presents a visual for the
reader, meanwhile, symbolism is an active element that provides with all of the meanings and
functions. All objects, settings, and characters are ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
"The pervading subject of death has not been closely enough linked to the themes of fear and
madness" (Frank, 314). As Usher attempts to rid of his twin half, Lady Madeline, he is essentially
signing his death. As life and death brings division to them, Lady Madeline will eventually
reemerge, and fear will strike Usher in a way he would never expect as she could be heard her from
her grave, eventually falling upon Usher. Fear is the prevail of The Fall of the House of Usher, and
it's brought up through various forms, whether descriptively, or symbolically, and it supplies the
mood and details. The entirety of the story heavily lies on the concept of fear, and with that it is
necessary to bring it out in many forms. The fear that is brought up in various forms is to shape the
story and establish a sense of terror within every object, image, and description, and it is evoked in
high
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Roderick Usher Isolation
The only thing you have to fear is fear itself" –Franklin D. Roosevelt. For Roderick Usher fear in
itself is worse than whatever he actually fears. The story is set in the Usher family's old isolated run
down home, Roderick Usher finds himself surrounded by phenomenon which skewed his perception
of reality. Roderick could not properly develop due to his state of seclusion, which eventually drives
him mad. He calls on his long lost friend who he hasn't seen since childhood to help him deal with
his emotions. The elements that Edgar Allan Poe demonstrate throughout "The Fall of The House of
Usher" help exhibit the theme that fear and isolation leads to madness, and human interaction is
important to maintain your sanity.
Throughout the story Poe ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The imagery that Poe uses to describe Usher emphasizes the fact that Isolation tore Usher apart. The
narrator states, "Surely, man had never before so terribly altered, in so brief a period, as had
Roderick Usher!" (Poe 8). The period of time that Usher had been in solitude was enough to distort
his appearance completely. Even his boyhood friend found him completely unrecognizable. This
change in appearance foreshadows another change outside the physical realm. His sanity begins to
fade when: "–here he sprang furiously to his feet, and shrieked out his syllables, as if in the effort he
were giving up his soul–" (Poe 24). It is already known that his appearance is unnatural and
distorted; now it is certain that he has lost his mind. He is acting inhumane and senseless when he
jumps around in fear. These actions prove that he is unlike a normal human being that is in touch
with society and common social standards. Isolation causes Usher to act this way, and it is the same
result for anyone in confinement. Therefore, Poe's use of imagery in sound and description prove
that Usher was out of touch with the real world, and slowly going insane with his lack of
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
House Of Usher Insane
The supernatural intrigues the human race because we want to believe that it is real. We want to
believe in things that can't be true because it makes our lives more interesting. In many of Poe's
pieces, the narrator in the stories are being haunted. Some may argue that the narrator are just
insane, but there is a lot more evidence proving that there is something supernatural going on. For
example in the short story "The Fall of The House of Usher" it is evident that the narrator is being
haunted, and that he is not insane.
In the story Roderick states "We have put her living in the tomb!" & "Have I not heard her footstep
on the stair? Do I not distinguish that heavy and horrible beating of her heart? MADMAN!" (Poe
pg#). Many unusual things ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Madeline must've drank their blood and walked upstairs to kill Roderick. That's why when she
stepped into the room she had blood all over the front of her white robes and attacked Roderick.
Also, a stanza in the poem says "The Haunted palace" it says "But evil things, in robes of sorrow,
Assailed the monarch's high estate; (Ah, let us mourn, for never morrow shall dawn upon him,
desolate!)" (Poe pg#). This particular stanza is telling us that in "The Haunted Palace" something
dreadful must've happened to the family ( such as a vampire bite) , and nothing was ever the same
after the incident. The lovely Madeline not only looked beautiful when she was alive, she looked
beautiful when she was dead too. When she passed away, her cheeks were rosy red from her
blushing which is an impossible thing to do when you are dead. "the mockery of a faint blush, upon
the bosom and face, and that suspiciously lingering upon the lip which is so terrible in death."
Madeline's beauty clearly points to vampirism, and the narrator was not the only person who
noticed. Although the servants did not play big roles in this story, the ones that they were in were
very important. When the narrator first entered 'The House of
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
House Of Usher Symbolism
"The Fall of the House of Usher" is a story laced with supernatural events. While symbolism is often
believed to play a big part in the story, it is truly a fantasy tale involving a curse, a demon man who
plots to murder his sister, and an undead, revenge seeking woman. Poe is known for his use of
supernatural effects in short stories, so this is the most realistic interpretation of the story. One of the
major events that is claimed to be one of Poe's symbols is the crack in the house that the narrator
points out. This crack is said to symbolize the line of Ushers that is coming to an end. There is only
two remaining in the family, and they are both very sickly. However, it is clear that the house is very
old, and Poe may have added the crack to add to the creepy setting and vibe. The inhabitants of the
house are very creepy, and it makes sense that the house would display that. This brings about the
next point. A theory is that Roderick and Madeline symbolize the dualism of emotion/body and
rationality/mind within people. Roderick is supposedly symbolic of the human's mental capacity and
intellect because he has a mental ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
However, "The Fall of the House of Usher" leans on the side of supernatural and fantasy. He
incorporates a sinister and eerie house for the setting, a curse of some sort that has taken over the
Usher line, and a brother who can see the future and predicts his sister's death. Madeline even
returns from the dead near the end. Taking this story in a more literal sense alters one's view and
creates a reading experience that is uniquely different from much of Poe's other works. Whether he
meant for readers to find symbolism and deep meaning in this story or to take it literally as a
supernatural tale, audiences may never know. However, it is beneficial to understand the two
possible interpretations of the story in order to better your understanding of
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

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Usher Mental Illness

  • 1. Usher Mental Illness The Fall of the House of Usher is another one of Edgar Allen Poe's mysterious short stories that leave the audience with many unanswered questions. The narrator arrives at the House of Usher that is owned by his childhood friend Roderick Usher whom he wishes to help. Roderick Usher isn't actually diagnosed with any sort of definite mental disorder although we do know something isn't right in his mind. Along with that, he is utterly and extremely scared of fear itself which leads him to believe that he may indeed die of the fear that he is filled with. Roderick's twin sister, Madeline, suffers from catalepsy and has seizures frequently. One day, Roderick tells the narrator that she is dead when really she is just in the midst of a seizure. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... Usher then blurts out in a taut way that his twin sister who appeared dead isn't actually dead and that she is coming. Immediately after, the door bursts open, and bloody Madeline walks in and falls into her brother who dies along with her. Did Roderick know the entire time that Madeline wasn't actually dead? How did Roderick know she was coming? Why did Roderick randomly decide to blurt out that his sister isn't actually dead while the narrator is reading to Usher? The audience will never know. Roderick declares Madeline is dead just by assuming that she is dead because she appears dead during one of her seizures, he then decides not to bury her, he immediately locks her in a vault under his bed, and he then blurts out that his sister isn't actually dead in the middle of a story that the narrator is reading to him. The audience will never know the reasons why Usher acted the way he did in these certain situations... although, what the audience can infer is that maybe his unhealthy state of mind is the reason why he acts so much different that people with a healthy state of ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 2.
  • 3. The Usher Madness Madness lurks in even the most "normal" people. During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year... (Poe). This is an appropriate setting given Usher's overly–acute senses; he can't handle bright lights or sounds, and so the story's setting is dull and soundless. .... 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. (Poe). The Usher estate is made to seem as though it is its own isolated world, different and separate from normal reality. His voice varied rapidly from a tremulous indecision (when the animal spirits seemed utterly in abeyance) to that ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... Although, as boys, we had been even intimate associates, yet I really knew little of my friend. His reserve had been always excessive and habitual (Poe). Even as the narrator gets to know Roderick again, there remains a barrier between them. Roderick remains excessively reserved. I had learned, too, the very remarkable fact, that the stem of the Usher race, all time–honoured as it was, had put forth, at no period, any enduring branch; in other words, that the entire family lay in the direct line of descent, and had always, with very trifling and very temporary variation, so lain (Poe). The Usher family was as self–isolating and out of touch as Madeline and Roderick seem to be. 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). There is a sense of confinement here; the windows are out of reach, to escape is impossible. Friendship is a lot like food. We need it to survive. Human beings have fundamental need for inclusion in group life and for close relationships. A lack of close friends and a of social contact generally bring humans emotional discomfort or distress, as it is clearly evident in The Fall of House Usher. Madness and isolation walk hand in hand, rarely does one not have a grip on the ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 4.
  • 5. The House Of The Usher The "Fall of The House of The Usher" is a novel that gives the thrill of a family who has a troubled lifestyle. The story is told completely through one character, the narrator. The narrator is not given a name or any background information. The narrator is merely a door that opens to the reader to see the story clearly through his eyes. Throughout the story, the narrator slowly becomes a character of his own and he gets his own personality and thoughts. Him becoming his own character in the story shows his good reliability as a narrator. He starts to develop a horrific thoughts through the story and later as he leaves the house he is a changed person. The "Fall of The House of Usher" starts off with a nameless person receiving an unexpected ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... From entering the Usher household blank and faceless, he left the house with the characteristics of Madeline and Roderick. The narrator is scarred for life from what he witnessed and went through during his stay at the mansion. Poe purposefully transfers the qualities of the Ushers to the narrator. The narrator is very different from most narrators as he is able to tell the story clearly and have an effect on outcomes of it. In the past, the Usher family was known for starting a pure bloodline through incest. Throughout the generations the tradition on incest and keeping their bloodline pure was passed down as older family passed away. In a way, Roderick and Madeline passed down their mental illness to the narrator. Poe lends the narrator qualities of a character through his experience of the events that took place in the household. Poe makes the narrator into his own character by involving him in the story and allowing him to change the outcome of the events in the story. From the beginning of the story, the narrator has been a window to see the life of Roderick Usher. The narrator is questioned to be unreliable in the story as he is believed to be so accustomed to the life of Roderick Usher. The narrator in the story is reliable to an extent as he is Roderick's childhood friend and would not falsely tell details about his experience in the mansion. The narrator doesn't seem as shocked to the outburst from Roderick and Madeline coming back from the tomb which shows he is familiar with gothic emotions. He starts off as an outsider but begins to see the story unfold in front of ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 6.
  • 7. House Of Usher Gothic literary traditions began in the middle ages and were used to evoke the reader's emotions of fear and suspense. The elements within the stories were heavily described to add to the author's tone and mood of the reader. Edgar Allan Poe is a well known author in Gothic literature, one of his pieces "The Fall of the House of Usher" is a Gothic short story that features a grim tone using Gothic elements to draw the attention of the readers. The intentions of Gothic authors were to give the readers a look into the dark side of the time in which the book is written. Poe uses a grim tone throughout "The Fall of the House of Usher" and expresses it through the setting of the story and the imagery he uses. Poe uses an intensely described setting ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... The narrator sees Roderick's painting he describes it as "One of the phantasmagoric conceptions of my friend, partaking not so rigidly of the spirit of abstraction, may be shadowed forth, although feebly, in words. A small picture presented the interior of an immensely long and rectangular vault or tunnel, with low walls, smooth, white, and without interruption or device. Certain accessory points of the design served well to convey the idea that this excavation lay at exceeding depth below the surface of the earth."(Page 420) He went into such detail only talking about a painting he was looking at. Just by the way he describes it you can see in your head what he is describing. The vault is so deep no light gets into it, it's a deep dark place of rest with no way life can get in or out. Laying awake days after Madeline was put to rest, the narrator claims " I endeavored to believe that much, if not all of what I felt, was due to the bewildering influence of the gloomy furniture of the room–of the dark and tattered draperies, which, tortured into motion by the breath of a rising tempest, swayed fitfully to and fro upon the walls, and rustled uneasily about the decorations of the bed." (Page 425) Poe's use of eloquent imagery makes the reader feel as if they are in the story. His compelling use of words when describing details makes it easier to read and ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 8.
  • 9. The Fall Of The House Of Usher Edgar Allen Poe's short story The Fall of the House of Usher was very captivating. Once I began reading the story I couldn't put the book down till I was done. I believe the protagonist in the story was Roderick Usher. I always assumed a protagonist to be heroic in some way. Roderick Usher's character, however, was not heroic. Usher was not only a hypochondriac, but he was a mentally and physically sick man. I have no doubt that a lot of his mental and physical maladies sprouted from years of inbreeding in his family: I had learned, too, the very remarkable fact, that the stem of the Usher race, all time–honored as it was, had put forth, at no period, any enduring branch; in other words, that the entire family lay in direct line of descent, and had always, with very trifling and very temporary variation, so lain. (Poe, 1839, p.703). Roderick and his sister Madeline were not only slaves of their family's bloodline, they were also slaves of their house. I found Madeline and the house to be the antagonists in this story. It seemed that as the house and Roderick's sister deteriorated, so did our protagonist. In the start of the story the house was still in one piece, but it was falling apart slowly in strange ways, such as actual rocks deteriorating, "No portion of the masonry had fallen; and there appeared to be a wild inconsistency between its still perfect adaption of parts, and the utterly porous, and evidently decayed condition of the individual ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 10.
  • 11. The Fall Of The House Of Usher At first, the erratic, ambiguous, and disorientating narrative style of 'The Fall of the House of Usher' seems to lack consistent symbolism, and can be understood as a convention of the gothic genre. Macabre texts often employ unreliable narrators to convey readers down circuitous paths littered with false steps and red herrings, in order to postpone, and perhaps even prevent, arrival at singular interpretations of stories. In 'The Fall of the House of Usher', the narrator suddenly and ambiguously reveals facts about the house and its inhabitants, and couches his observations in ornate and turgid language. These features seem superfluous, but force readers to collude in the mysterious, entertaining and infinite game of engineered interpretation that the gothic genre revels in. Nevertheless, a second reading of the text reveals uncanny similarities between the narrator and Roderick– both men ultimately share a belief in "the sentience of all vegetable things" (185), possess the power to distort the distinction between art and reality, and suffer from "a morbid acuteness of the senses" (181). This suggests that the malady plaguing the surviving branches of the Usher family has infected the narrator. Therefore, the perplexing, and oftentimes infuriating narrative style of 'The Fall of the House of Usher' reflects both authorial manipulation essential to create a suspenseful gothic tale, and also unconscious manipulation by the mentally disturbed narrator (itself a gothic ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 12.
  • 13. Usher Romanticism In the tale of "The Fall of the House of Usher" two twins, a brother and sister, have a twisted relationship. Roderick, the brother, invites one of his childhood friends to come for a visit but that friend does not realize what he is getting into until he sees what the house looks like and steps inside (Poe 292). Roderick Usher best exemplifies dark romanticism. He shows the best of dark romanticism because he has a problem with the outside world and never leaves his home. He has a disease that causes him to experience his senses worst that most (Poe 294). He has little guilt in his life because he tried to "help" his sister by burying her alive (Poe 304). He has a lot of evil in him because even though he tried to bury Madeline alive, he failed ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 14.
  • 15. House Of Usher Symbolism Poe's gloomy and ominous short story, "The Fall of the House of Usher," begins with the nameless narrator (most likely Poe himself) describing his journey to the House of Usher after Roderick, one of the last two remaining members in the Usher family and proprietor of "the melancholy House of Usher" (3), summons the nameless narrator to visit him: "I looked upon the scene before me–upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain–upon the bleak walls...with an utter depression of soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation [to]" (3). Here, we see the first signs of the house as a supernatural entity whose beauty can only be seen by people on opium. Without the use of opium, however, the house remains depressing and lifeless. Poe uses the house as a symbol of society at the time: forsaken without the use opium. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... Continuing with the symbolism of society's addiction to opium, Poe claims that the transcendental and sentient house serves as the main cause of Roderick's and his sister's illnesses. Moreover, we can see some withdrawal symptoms when the narrator meets Roderick: " He suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the senses; the most insipid food was alone endurable; he could wear only garments of certain texture; the odors of all flowers were oppressive; his eyes were tortured by even a faint light; and there were but peculiar sounds, and these from stringed instruments, which did not inspire him with horror" ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 16.
  • 17. Roderick Usher Downfall The short story The Fall of the House of the Usher is a mind twisting tale that will make one question the peculiarities of this world. It brings up the capabilities of one's mind and how what one sees and processes can lead to various things. Some people can be very influential, and can diminish others thoughts and mind, such as Roderick Usher. Unintentionally, he affects all of those around them, just like our narrator, who eventually joins him in becoming insane. At the beginning of the story, the Roderick Usher sends the narrator a letter. He states that he is mentally ill, and would like to see his old friend. So the narrator gets his things together and heads that way to meet with Roderick. He later arrives at this huge house, at which ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 18.
  • 19. The Fall Of The House Of Usher At the beginning of the story there is a very negative feeling being attached to the appearance of the house. He uses a couple of things to try and make you feel negatively about this place. He used words and phrases such as: "insufferable gloom," "vacant," "black and lurid," and the "rank sedges" were mentioned too. These are obviously there to give a sort of a bad connotation, or bad karma, to the house. He speaks of how the house has a "wild inconsistency" and how each individual stone is starting to decay and fall apart. Suggesting that the house has many problems, all problems that could possibly lead to the destruction of a house. One of the central themes underlying the story, The Fall of the House of Usher, is that of the nature of the house. The way it is described and the way it is so mysterious. Another central theme about this story is the nature of the people that live in the house. They are portrayed very much in the same manner throughout the story. Thus, they have several similarities with each other. All of which are of a bad feeling, showing how bad things are for the people and the house. These similarities are very well laid out in the story and are, I believe, meant to be something to be considered when reading it. The gothic imagery that fills "Usher" reflects a style of literature that had emerged during the late eighteenth century and was flourishing in the early decades of the nineteenth. The large mysterious castle filled with dark corners and ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 20.
  • 21. The Fall Of The House Of The Usher Edgar Allen Poe stories are viewed as being supernatural and tragic; however, when given a closer look there is much more to meet the eye. His stories give the readers an insight of his life and a more profound meaning than what 's on the surfaces. "Although Poe was not the social outcast that Baudelaire conceived him to be, he was, and still is, perhaps the most thoroughly misunderstood of all American write" (Stovall 417). Poe 's poems and short stories can be analyzed in serval different perspectives. Take such as, Poe 's "The Fall of the House of the Usher" can be interpreted for most people as a story about a bizarre relationship between sister and brother. The story appears to just be about a family that only marries within the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... Roderick is following the same path as the Usher 's, which they have been doing for many generations, before him. He had no other choice and through the years was molded to believe that he should be his own sister 's lover. They were raised more of future lovers than as siblings. The line between lovers and family was never drawn for them, so the family secret also stayed with their family. The secrets sealed "in the direct line of descent" (Poe 703). Another key factor for intermarriage is to keep any property they own in the Usher 's name. The family house could possibly be the last thing that the Usher own. Once the house fall in someone else handles who knows what could have happened. The house was not in the greatest structures, one flaw being the crack that ran down the center of the house. That house held everything that was the Usher and when Roderick and Madeline died the house came down right after them. The tragedy to love someone, but cannot be with them is the downfall of the Ushers and their history. Roderick and Madeline are a twisted story of Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet with the exact same ending, both lovers dies. Poe took that love story and turned it into his own twisted of his love story. Two–star cross lovers that just want to live in peace in ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 22.
  • 23. Usher Transformation Fear and transformation are almost like a pigment of imagination. What may be scary to you may not be to another person at all. In the first unit we experienced many stories that have transformation and fear. Three specific stories show humans, a house and setting. In the next few paragraphs I will be talking about all of those things. In the story "The Fall of The House of Usher" by Edgar Allen Poe he uses many different situations to scare the reader. Poe is a really good writer and especially when it comes to disturbing stories. He uses the season autumn to show a drastic change in weather. Overall the story has a downhill transformation from life to death. It also has a physical/spiritual transcendence. The next story which has transformation ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 24.
  • 25. The Fall Of The House Of Usher The Fall of the House of Usher Analysis The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe is a very dark and eerie story. This gothic tale is very complexly written, as many of Poe's works are. In this story, there were two main themes that stood out: fear and friendship. The fear of Roderick Usher as well as the narrator's fear and the friendship of the two. And although there are many elements of this story that are noteworthy, most importantly though is the authors vagueness throughout. The theme of fear in this story is present throughout. The narrator was uneasy to say the least upon his first glimpse of the house and about the house in general throughout the story. As well as his fear for his friends well–being. Roderick Usher's fear ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 26.
  • 27. The Fall Of The House Of Usher "The Fall of the House of Usher" has been noted as one of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous short stories. The story begins when the narrator arrives at the house of his friend, Roderick Usher. Roderick is ill and has been living his life deeply reclusive. His sister Madeline suffers from a sensory disorder and is considered to be dead. The narrator attempts to comfort Roderick and alleviate his melancholy by reading a story that appears to foreshadow later events. In this story, Poe provides his audience with classic themes such as fear, madness, and most important, identity. Through psychoanalytical criticism the reader can explore and gather a deeper understanding of the literary work. A comprehensive analysis of psychoanalytical criticism and the characters mental state in "The Fall of the House of Usher" will provide an in–depth interpretation of the characters and of the work. One of the first observations that is made about the narrator is the fact that he is does not have a name. The lack of a name implies that the narrator is an outsider from the Usher family whose main purpose is to narrate the story and to serve as a guide through the Usher house. Throughout "The Fall of the House of Usher," the narrator demonstrates a sense of pre–occupation. At times, he seems to have trouble classifying reality from hallucination and is possibly under the influence of drugs. The narrator compares his "depression of soul" to the "after–dream of the reveler upon Opium" (Poe 654). He ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 28.
  • 29. House Vs Usher Analysis The author develops the comparison of Ushers mind and house. For examples, the narrator describes the house, when saying, "Minute fungi overspread the whole exterior, hanging in a fine tangled web–work" (Poe, 6). The author also develops the imagery of the house when stating "old wood– work which has rotted for long years" (Poe, 6) By illustrating the houses condition, the reader can understand the condition of the Usher family, and how it has been rotting and crumbling. In comparison, the reader can compare the physical appearance of the house to Ushers mind, when the narrator says, "He suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the senses" (Poe, 9) Both Usher and the house are fading, so the reader can assume that they are somehow connected ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 30.
  • 31. The Fall Of The House Of Usher Summaries The Fall of the House of Usher – A man, called by his friend Roderick Usher, seeks out the House of Usher. Upon his arrival, he is astonished by the look of the house. He enters in, finding his friend in despair. Roderick and his sister are each suffering from disease. Roderick tells the narrator that the house is sentient. The sister dies, and is interred in the house's vault. During the week that follows, both Usher and the narrator seem to become more anxious. One night, in an attempt to allay Usher's fears, the narrator reads a book, The Mad Trist. During the reading, certain events in the book are met with similar sounds in the house. Usher becomes more anxious as the narrator reads onward. Finally, Usher becomes irrate, declaring his sister is alive and has been alive for the longest time since interred. Usher opens the doors of the room, his sister enters seizes Usher. They both die, the narrator flees the house and watches as the house breaks apart and is consumed by the ground. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... Struck by her beauty, he marries her. Ligeia dies a few years after though. The man moves to London, marries a woman called Rowena. The marriage is loveless. Rowena becomes ill. She soon dies. During his vigil, Rowena seems to be reviving, but keeps relapsing, each relapse longer and more death–like. After numerous such revivals and relapses, the body stands and walks. The man touches her, and the bandages fall away to reveal ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 32.
  • 33. Fall Of The House Usher The Fall of the House starts out using a narrow rational point of view from Edgar Allen Poe to illustrate the eccentric, grotesque and dark effects of the house the appearance of it and also the impact it had on the character within the house such as Roderick, Madeline and twins sister. Poe's effective use of personification, foreshadowing, symbolism, and doubling create a morbid tale leading to, the fall of (the house of) Usher and its what ultimately set the tone for gothic elements in the story. Roderick and Madeline are both suffering from the alluring stranger illnesses and effects that the house exhibits and illuminates. Roderick pragmatically suffers from the morbid acuteness of the sense, because he believes that the ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 34.
  • 35. Romanticism Of Usher Dark romanticism is a sub genre of romanticism from the late 18th century with dark writing and anti transcendentalist views. These stories include intense fascination, crime, and melancholia. Dark romanticism writer, Edgar Allan Poe, wrote the prominent "The Fall of the House of Usher". "The Fall of the House of Usher" is about an unknown narrator called to the mansion of his childhood friend Roderick Usher for help. Poe writes with a solemn tone and demonstrates that when he is describing the plot and the character traits. Poe is an exceedingly solemn author and displays that in his writing of the plot. In "The Fall of the House of Usher", Poe's tone is displayed when the narrator says "The disease which had thus entombed the lady in the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... While describing Roderick Usher, Poe writes, "He suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the senses; the most insipid food was alone endurable;" (416). Poe's solemn tone is displayed when he utilizes grim and descriptive words to describe Usher. Poe later states "The disease of the lady Madeline had long baffled the skill of her physicians. A settled apathy, a gradual wasting away of the person, and frequent although transient affections of a partially cataleptical character, were the unusual diagnosis." (416). Another example of Poe's tone is illustrated when the narrator says "His ordinary manner had vanished. His ordinary occupations were neglected or forgotten. He roamed from chamber to chamber with hurried, unequal, and objectless step. The pallor of his countenance had assumed, if possible, a more ghastly hue ––but the luminousness of his eye had utterly gone out." (425). In both of these quotes Poe's narrator illustrates both Roderick and Madeline's characteristics with an extensively dark and solemn tone. The narrator expresses Poe's tremendously a dark and solemn tone when he is describing Roderick and Madeline Usher. In conclusion, Edgar Allan Poe writes in an intensely solemn tone he displays it when describing the plot and the characters. In "The Fall of the House of Usher" Poe describes his characters with dark and descriptive words. Furthermore, Poe writes his plot actions with key ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 36.
  • 37. House Of Usher Tone "Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality"– Edgar Allan Poe. In Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Fall of the House of Usher", Poe expresses his gloomy tone throughout his word choice and setting. Poe's use of detailed phrases and words with a very distinctive connotation make the story more engaging to the audience. He states, "I had so worked upon my imagination as really to believe that about the whole mansion and domain there hung an atmosphere peculiar to themselves and their immediate vicinity–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" (415). This quote altogether is rich in the amount of ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... He sees the room inside the house as "large and lofty" (412) and even says that the small gleams of light "made their way through the trellised panes" (line 18). His detailed description of the actual rooms in the house helps create a gloomy tone. It allows the reader to picture the house in their head while reading. He even describes the feeling he receives from the house. Poe states, "I know not how it was– but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half–pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment with which usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible" (lines 5–9). The feeling or response he develops from the house is a very important part of the setting. He receives an "insufferable gloom" which makes the house seem even more dreary than what is given off from the actual appearance of the house. His anxiousness applies to the gloomy tone because he obtains a scary feeling from just being in the ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 38.
  • 39. Illness In Roderick Usher This story is really creepy mysterious but kind of fun to read In the story Roderick, usher Madeline both have illness The narrator is the childhood friend of Roderick usher The house of has a connection to all three of them living in the house The fall of the usher is creepy the narrator of the story insane Roderick Madeline both have illness the narrator is childhood friend of Roderick usher there's a strong connection to the house Roderick and Madeline both have illness Roderick has body illness mental disorder Madeline also has a mental disorder there something wrong with both of them Roderick helps his friend burry Madeline, Madeline is burry alive without them really knowing . They all are going threw it in the house and need help ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 40.
  • 41. The Fall Of The House Of Usher Edgar Allen Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher", written in 1839, is a short story that describes the final days of the Usher family. The tale begins as the narrator has been summoned by Roderick Usher to provide him comfort during his mental illness. Through this narrator, Poe shares key elements that substantiate the anti–Puritanism beliefs of the Ushers. Poe's description of the house and surroundings set the gothic tone of the story. He describes the house as a "mansion of gloom" surround by "decayed trees" allowing the reader to understand the uneasiness felt by the characters. Puritan fear came strongly from the belief in the supernatural. The use of witchcraft and demons was the Devils way of tempting Godly people to stray from ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 42.
  • 43. Transformations In The Fall Of The House Of Usher I just just glanced through my phone, swiping quickly to going through the photos of everyone's snapchat story. But one word caught my eye: fire; it caught my eye but I did not really think about it afterwards. Several hours later however, I was with my friends working on our english essay when all of a sudden, I look up to see what looked like an enormous blanket of brown dust staining the clear blue sky. There was a distinct line between the perfectly blue sky and the disgusting smoke from the fire and this transformation that occurred so out of the blue causing both shock and awe from me and my friends. Transformations play a role in stories meant to scare us by creating an atmosphere of discomfort and uncertainty because the characters are unable to control the situation around them. Through the short stories of "The Fall of the House of Usher", "House Taken Over", and "Where is Here", the authors of those stories all elicit an atmosphere of fear through the combined transformations of setting, mood, and characters. "The Fall of the House of Usher" change occurs at the climax of the story where Roderick Usher falls into insanity. "House Taken Over' changes when the mysterious intruders fully overtake the house and the siblings are forced to flee. In "Where is Here" the stranger leaves the home which causes the house to fade in color, draining it of life. First, in "The Fall of the House of Usher" the author uses the transformation of Roderick Usher to create an ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 44.
  • 45. The Fall Of The House Of Usher The setting of "The Fall of the House of Usher" contributes to the overall impact and significance of the story by showing the parallels between the life of the Usher twins and the life of the house they live in. In the beginning of the story the narrator describes the House as having a crack of fissure running down the front of it. He says that if one looked closely they could see "the beginning of a break in the front of the building, a crack making its way from the top down the wall until it became lost in the dark waters of the lake" (2). This is representative of the divide growing between the two siblings who live together in the house, which has its roots in their illnesses. The narrator claims that he suspected the lake and the air ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 46.
  • 47. The Fall Of The House Of Usher The story of "The fall of the house of Usher" is categorized as a tragic short story published under the name Edgar Allen Poe, and has proven over time to be a very illusive and vivid tale, as the extensively descriptive vocabulary eludes readers to entrance them into such a gloomy experience, of which the overtone of the story unpleasantly provides readers; as even then there is still no certain meaning from which a person may derive the actual circumstance of which the passage may bring unto them, while there are a multitude of different interpretations that are neither proved nor disproved, only ones sense of perception may provide them a viable understanding of which the passage may present them. Nonetheless the story no less significant or hazy, as it severely dwells on the emotions and thoughts of the narrator who has the apparent displeasure of experiencing the events that partake in this story, presenting such prolific portions of idea that can all but resist the urge to unease the individual who may unfortunately come across this particularly eerie piece of literature. The story begins with a small epigraph of a quote from a song written by an old French musician that reads: "Son coeur est un luth suspendu; Sitot qu'on le touché il ressone". This roughly translates to: His/her heart is a poised flute, as soon as it is touched, it resounds". The brief inclusion of these lyrics leads me to believe that they were placed there before the execution of the story to ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 48.
  • 49. Madeline Usher Madeline Usher is an extra to the story when she is looked at. She does not have any lines throughout the story. Madeline is absent from maximum of the story, and she and the narrator never were in the same room together. When the narrator finally does see her, it was during his arrive as he spoke with Roderick. "While he spoke, the lady Madeline (for so was she called) passed slowly through a remote portion of the apartment, and, without having noticed my presence, disappeared" (Poe 706). Madeline is more of a ghost that walks around the mansion. The narrator might not mention Madeline that often, but through Rodrick's eyes and words her character forms. The emotions that came with her brother when she first appears after Madeline depart from him and the narrator. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... Roderick expresses his love for his sister that he shades emotions towards her. He also describes how she is very ill and he would not know what he would do with her. Madeline is overcome by her illness and could have been with drove her into the state of being dead–like. The next time, that Madeline is brought up, she has died and the narrator and Roderick are burning her in the Usher's underground tomb. The mansion is a prison but also a sanctuary for Madeline. She has spent her birth to death there. Never mingling with anyone else but her brother that would have soon been her mate. Within their family line of incest, it was in their fate to fall for each ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 50.
  • 51. Symbolism In The House Of Usher The Symbolism behind the House of Usher The story uses different forms of symbolism to convey themes and development of characters and the plot. But the main symbol of the story is the Usher house, itself. The main symbolism behind the home is to be the setting because through the house Poe wants to show the fear of the narrator and Roderick's mental illness. The looming crisis can be felt in the air throughout the story because of Poe's black tones that are used in all of his stories. The fine line between death and reality that Poe twists is purposely done to showcase Roderick's mental illness. This showcases that the narrator and readers know something is wrong with the House of Usher. This is found out later that through generations of ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... To showcase how Roderick and Madeline see the world, the setting of the house is very strange and borderline fiction. The narrator often asks themselves if this is a dream, because of all he is seeing around him and how strange and out of reality the House of Usher is. The home is straight out of one's nightmare and this helps the reader visualizes furthers the house as a symbol to see just how deeply disturbed, dark, and morbid the Ushers are. Then, the isolated nature of the house describes how lonely, disconnected, and sheltered the Usher family is. The strange ambiance of the setting helps the reader see, that through the broken lens of the Ushers, just how lonely they are. Roderick, not able to have offspring, goes insane, thus leaving him to feel alone cause his rampage of burying his sister alive. The disconnect and brainwashing the Ushers went through not only hurts them but kills the family in the end. Only having relationships within the family is what leads to the demise of the beautiful mansion which is described by the narrator in his youth, and is also the gloomy palace we see in the story. Without caring for the house because of the incapable family members, helps the reader understand and see how greatly mental illness and distancing have affected the storyline. In the beginning of the story, as the narrator describes the ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 52.
  • 53. The House Of Usher The Fall of The House of Usher" is one of Poe's longest pieces and is filled with literary elements. One literary element among these is the double meaning which the house itself is. The house represents the narrator's mind, and when the house falls it represents the fall in reason. Which throughout the entirety of the story the narrator is slowly going insane to the point of complete corruption. The narrator sees a crack in the house as he approaches it, the crack is small and thin, but despite its width being subpar the fracture runs all the way from the top of the house to it's foundation. Roderick Usher is clearly mentally unwell, just as he knows himself to be, so he sent out a letter to his childhood friend, the narrator, asking for ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... As if Roderick doesn't have enough bouncing around in his head, the story is a fantasy about a knight who slays some Monsters, like dragons. With his newfound degree in psychiatrics, the narrator proceeds to read even when he is hearing loud noises that are much like the ones he is reading in the story. The narrator does end up setting the book down but doesn't go to investigate the noises, he instead stands there for a second when the door to the room is knocked down. The narrator sees Madeline standing in the doorway battered and bruised, if she wasn't dead when she was locked away she looked it now. In most horror movies "I see dead people" is a pretty good indication that a person is completely out of their mind. For the narrator this was actually happening. Roderick is the one who really reacted to this sight and approached her, when he did this Madeline fell onto him and he died instantly. R.I.P. Roderick Death by falling sister (don't know– don't care). The narrator then does the most sane thing he has done in the entire story and books it out of the house. As he leaves the house he looks back the once tiny crack which has grown tremendously and the house falls to the ground. The narrator after having seen the most agonizing death known to man, death by falling sister, goes completely insane. As the house crumbles to the ground ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 54.
  • 55. Roderick Usher In "The Fall of the House of Usher," Roderick Usher sends out a letter to an old friend from college and requests for him to visit Roderick Usher because he was suffering from health issues. The narrator feels a sense dreary as he arrives at Roderick Usher's home. Roderick Usher is a very ill man who lives isolated in an old creepy house with his sister in a place isolated from civilization and when the narrator met Roderick, and he describes Roderick Usher in a very distinct way from regular people; he sees that Roderick Usher has physical actions and characteristics of a vampire. Roderick Usher is a vampire because the location of Usher's home is located in a creepy place, which is isolated from the rest of the community. When anybody thinks ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... Roderick Usher could be a vampire because "his eyes were tortured by even a faint light," and that is why Usher's home has his windows built high up close to the ceiling in his home so that as little sun as possible could shine through the windows (Poe 417). After the narrator greets him at Usher's home, the way he describes Usher tells the reader how similar Usher is to a vampire. His appearance made him question if Usher is dead or alive, because the narrator expresses him "whereas the dead objects seem "alive," the "live" things seem dead," because of his cadaverous body that lacks food since the only thing he can eat is other items besides human food (Neilson 3). The narrator observes that Usher "suffered from a morbid acuteness of the senses; the most insipid food was alone endurable" (Poe 417). Usher is not of the types of vampires that can only rely on blood from humans, but he is a vampire who "support his life and re–energize his frame by drawing upon the vitality of others" (Bailey ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 56.
  • 57. House Of Usher Edgar Allen Poe is very effective at spooking readers and making them feel a sense of mystery with very vague stories."The Fall of the House of Usher's" setting , characters, and theme all make the story what it is.The Fall of the House of Usher uses gothic elements to create an uncomfortable and spooky setting. The House of Usher's appearance inside and outside uses gothic elements to attribute to the feel of the story. The outside of the House of Usher causes the reader to feel uneasy. "Our unnamed narrator, as soon as he looks at the house, he feels a sense of dread, just kind of pervade him." (Stringfield) Before even stepping in the house, the House of Usher managed to cause the narrator to anticipate the horrors to come from the building. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... Edgar Allen Poe was familiar with vampire stories and their gothic elements."Poe was sufficiently familiar with gothic materials and techniques [...] and both male and female vampires abound in literature by the time he published his contribution to the genre in 1839." (Kendall 1) Poe's prior knowledge of vampire stories very well could lead him to writing his own vampire story himself, which can be seen in this story as Usher and Madeline have vampire–like qualities. "The Fall of the House of Usher" can be seen as a whole as the slow drop into insanity of someone."Thus 'The Fall of the House of Usher' can be read as the effusion of an irrational mind not only about the loss of sanity but itself an example of that theme." (William 2) Poe wrote "The Fall of the House of Usher" in a way that makes it so someone can read it and have the whole picture be seen as someone becoming insane. The ruined condition of the house can be seen as Usher's mental state and the collapse being his mind breaking and him going mad. Edgar Allen Poe wrote "The Fall of the House of Usher" in many ways that all attribute to the story in a way that the story would benefit. "The Fall of the House of Usher" uses gothic elements to create an uncomfortable and spooky setting. Edgar Allen Poe wrote a story that can be interpreted in many different ways with diverse and creepy ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 58.
  • 59. The Fall Of The House Of Usher The fall of the house of Usher is a gothic, short story written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1839. At the beginning of the story Poe creates horror and mysterious mood. He uses phrases like "dull, dark, and soundless day; shades of the evening; melancholy." When the narrator looks at the house, he says "with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit." The house is personified, the windows are "eye–like" and the fungi "hanging in a fine tangled web–work from the eaves." is like hair. It is what the narrator first and last see and its presence is important in the story. Poe also uses it metaphorically meaning the Usher family. The genre is gothic. We can find the gothic tale elements such as the haunted castle, the dreary landscape. We also do not know when or where the event takes place. The sense of death and fear come along with us throughout the whole story. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... We can read the story from a first person point of view, which means we can only know about his experiences and thoughts. He is a mysterious character and we do not find out more about him. He goes to this castle because his "boon companions on boyhood" Roderick Usher writes him a letter, complaining about his illness and asking for his help. The narrator confess that although they were good friends as a child, he really know little of his friend now. It is very odd that despite of this, he spends weeks with Roderick trying to help him. He says that "it was the apparent heart that went with his request...which allowed me no room for ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 60.
  • 61. Downfall Of Usher In the story "The Fall of the House of Usher" written by Edgar Allen Poe, is widely acknowledged to be one of Poe's finest and most representative tales. The character in the story all have a mysterious, dark, evil mood. The unnamed narrator visits the Usher family house after Roderick sends him an emotional letter begging him to come. While he seems skeptical of the supernatural and tries to find rational explanations for the disconcerting things happening around him, the narrator finds himself growing increasingly disturbed by the house crumble and fall into a small lake. The narrator has been described as an objective witness to the events in the story, with some suggesting he represents rationality. Madeline Usher the twin sister of Roderick ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... Also Roderick and Madeline have been in the house for many prolong hours, men have need and there are no signs indicating that Roderick ever leaves that house let alone would have another girl around. As the story progresses, Roderick attempts to relate his fear to the narrator and engages in numerous activities including playing the guitar, creating a disturbing painting, and composing a lyric entitled "The Haunted Palace" in attempt to clam himself. There also can elaborate more on the idea that there was incest also an example showing what kind of power men had on women. Later on in the story the most compelling discussion of this madness comes in the final scene when Roderick comes to the narrator's room. He enters very agitated and opens a window to the raging storm, as the narrator reads the novel "Mad Trist" Roderick sits sullenly in a chair looking at the door. They both hear noises outside the door and Roderick speaks, "Said I not that my senses were acute" Roderick explains that he hear noises from the tomb for several days "'Not hear it?–yes, I hear it, and have heard ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 62.
  • 63. House Of Usher Edgar Allan Poe short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" begins without a valid explanation of the narrator's motives for arriving at the house of his childhood friend Roderick Usher. Starting the story with this mystery and unclearness sets the tone for a plot that compares the real world and the supernatural. The narrator is trapped in the way of behaving of his friend Roderick. Even if the narrator wants to escape, he cannot until the house of Usher collapses completely. Characters are, in a certain way, trapped. Without a way to escape from the big and mysterious house, the characters cannot act and move freely. Because of this, we can assume that the house evokes a diabolical character of its own. Since the beginning, the most important ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... In fact, we do not know which is the setting of the story. House of Usher shows a gothic side. Its surroundings are described by the impressions that the author has created with his own mind. The narrator shows that he is also very nervous because of the landscape in front of him. He defines the windows as "vacant–eye like windows" but he takes worse fright from its image reflected in the "black and lurid tarn" which lurks around and beneath it. In the short story, the house is clearly connected to the surroundings. The exterior of the house is infested with fungi that grow along the tall walls. The fungi are interpreted as a symbol that it is represented as poisoned place because some fungus is poisoned. In the text says: "Minute fungi overspread the whole exterior, hanging in a fine tangled web–work from the eaves." Another very important symbol that the narrator saw from the beginning was the crack in the middle of the house that seemed very small but eventually at the end of the story split in two by making the house fall. The crack is connected to the Usher family because the family it was also divided, and it was only a matter of time before it fell and that happened to the house too. The narrator comments in the text: "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 ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 64.
  • 65. House Of Usher Manipulation The Fall of the House of Usher is a story written by Poe that demonstrates the ability for the rational mind to rapidly deteriorate upon influence, as it represents the fall of reasoning. The narrator's mind begins to lack the ability to make sense of the strange things occurring in the house, and by the end he has lost his mind, but manages to escape the brink of mental insanity upon the collapse of the House of Usher. In the beginning, the narrator shows up to the house upon request from one of his childhood friends, Roderick Usher. Immediately he takes note of the strange phantasmic aura the house gives off, and the peculiarities of Usher and his sister/wife. Throughout the story, he notes the feeling of agitation given off by his friend, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... In addition to the eerie happenings within the house contributing to the insanity of both the narrator and Usher, the phantasm of Madeline and the daily readings of Gothic literature begin to rapidly submerge the narrator in doubtful hallucinations and the questionability of his own sanity. Thus, The Fall of the House of Usher is a story that represents how the mind under influence performs, and how reason no longer becomes a mental aspect once the mental state begins to see things that may or may not be ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
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  • 67. Usher Alliteration Poe uses metaphor and alliteration in combination with vivid description to establish a mood of heavy pressure while introducing his theme of alienation in "The Fall of the House of Usher." over everyday events and is a central theme in the course of this story. A haughty and vocal sailor falls ill after complaining about the sick and gets thrown overboard, taking the last of the sickness with him, leaving the rest of the healthy passengers safe and praising God's grace. Later there comes a time when the ship is missing a screw and a sailor happens to have one to fix the ship. This might possibly be the greatest miracle of all because the ship can continue its journey instead of waiting to capsize. After getting to Plymouth, they fall ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... This was due to the fact that Edward believed the Bible was a source of knowledge and historical truths. This meant that Hell was a real place; the boundaries of Christianity could not be debated; God's power was huge and his wrath unforgiving; the time to repent was coming to an end and only God put off the Last Judgment. The sermon relies on fire and brimstone imagery, long sentences, rhetoric, repetition and the use of similes throughout the deliverance to deliver its message. During the sermon he likens God's wrath to many things such as: "Dreadful pit of glowing flames"; "Like great waters that are dammed for the present"; "Black clouds of God's wrath, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder"; "The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart." He views God as merciless and unrelenting by saying that "God will no longer hold them up in these slippery places, but will let them go..." Edwards uses tools such as predestination to scare his listeners by saying "They are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell." He repetitively mentions the fact that "it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up." His use of long sentences that drag on and on, creating a mood of depression and frustration although he ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
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  • 69. Fall Of Usher The Fall of the House of Usher is an enticing tale of insanity, death, and unadulterated fear. The short story, The Fall of the House of Usher, is gothic fiction and is written by Edgar Allan Poe. Certain elements in the story and the actions of Madeline, Roderick Usher's sister, causes Usher to go completely insane and almost brings the narrator to the brink of insanity. Through specific gothic elements such as emotions, the eerie and mysterious setting, and the supernatural, Poe successfully achieves a suspenseful mood within his short story. At the end of The Fall of the House of Usher, when the house sinks and falls, it is because of his insanity and his belief that his sister died that the house sank and fell. Instead, she did not die ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... However, some people argue that it was her illness that made her portray these 'death–like' symptoms, which is why they entombed her. The illness of Madeline can be mistaken for death because it makes her unable to move and her body becomes completely rigid. "She is terminally ill and suffers fits of catalepsy, meaning she appears rigid and does not move for long periods of time. [...] Some critics have suggested that Madeline's illness is the result of a long history of incestual breeding in the Usher family; others believe that she possesses evil powers and is, in fact, a vampire." (Wilson par. 15) Her illness causes rigidness throughout the body for long periods of time and, because of this, both the narrator and Usher assumed she was dead. Madeline Usher was angry that she was entombed so she came back and critics and some readers assume she was a vampire because of this. Usher knew that she was still alive and when he tried to share that with the narrator he ignored him and blamed his assumption on his sanity. "It's not Roderick who's the vampire, it could be Madeline, well she does come back from the dead after several days. [...] which could be that she's returned from the dead as a vampire. Also, Roderick, some critics think that Roderick's ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
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  • 71. House Of Usher Setting Mysterious, captivating, dark, and eerie are some factors that can come to mind when considering the stories composed by Edgar Allan Poe. The Fall of the House of Usher is no deviant from those factors, and leads to many open doors of observation. From the very beginning Poe encloses the setting within an eerie mood, bringing readers though the gothic archway leading to a house of sorrow, foreboding fear all throughout. Poe's horror setting development is both symbolic and descriptive. "The Fall of the House of Usher is merely an adventitious product of atmosphere" (Darrel, 380). Darrel points out the double importance of the descriptiveness of the setting and the symbolism, because often the elements of horror are solely accredited to the descriptions themselves. The description presents a visual for the reader, meanwhile, symbolism is an active element that provides with all of the meanings and functions. All objects, settings, and characters are ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... "The pervading subject of death has not been closely enough linked to the themes of fear and madness" (Frank, 314). As Usher attempts to rid of his twin half, Lady Madeline, he is essentially signing his death. As life and death brings division to them, Lady Madeline will eventually reemerge, and fear will strike Usher in a way he would never expect as she could be heard her from her grave, eventually falling upon Usher. Fear is the prevail of The Fall of the House of Usher, and it's brought up through various forms, whether descriptively, or symbolically, and it supplies the mood and details. The entirety of the story heavily lies on the concept of fear, and with that it is necessary to bring it out in many forms. The fear that is brought up in various forms is to shape the story and establish a sense of terror within every object, image, and description, and it is evoked in high ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
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  • 73. Roderick Usher Isolation The only thing you have to fear is fear itself" –Franklin D. Roosevelt. For Roderick Usher fear in itself is worse than whatever he actually fears. The story is set in the Usher family's old isolated run down home, Roderick Usher finds himself surrounded by phenomenon which skewed his perception of reality. Roderick could not properly develop due to his state of seclusion, which eventually drives him mad. He calls on his long lost friend who he hasn't seen since childhood to help him deal with his emotions. The elements that Edgar Allan Poe demonstrate throughout "The Fall of The House of Usher" help exhibit the theme that fear and isolation leads to madness, and human interaction is important to maintain your sanity. Throughout the story Poe ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... The imagery that Poe uses to describe Usher emphasizes the fact that Isolation tore Usher apart. The narrator states, "Surely, man had never before so terribly altered, in so brief a period, as had Roderick Usher!" (Poe 8). The period of time that Usher had been in solitude was enough to distort his appearance completely. Even his boyhood friend found him completely unrecognizable. This change in appearance foreshadows another change outside the physical realm. His sanity begins to fade when: "–here he sprang furiously to his feet, and shrieked out his syllables, as if in the effort he were giving up his soul–" (Poe 24). It is already known that his appearance is unnatural and distorted; now it is certain that he has lost his mind. He is acting inhumane and senseless when he jumps around in fear. These actions prove that he is unlike a normal human being that is in touch with society and common social standards. Isolation causes Usher to act this way, and it is the same result for anyone in confinement. Therefore, Poe's use of imagery in sound and description prove that Usher was out of touch with the real world, and slowly going insane with his lack of ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
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  • 75. House Of Usher Insane The supernatural intrigues the human race because we want to believe that it is real. We want to believe in things that can't be true because it makes our lives more interesting. In many of Poe's pieces, the narrator in the stories are being haunted. Some may argue that the narrator are just insane, but there is a lot more evidence proving that there is something supernatural going on. For example in the short story "The Fall of The House of Usher" it is evident that the narrator is being haunted, and that he is not insane. In the story Roderick states "We have put her living in the tomb!" & "Have I not heard her footstep on the stair? Do I not distinguish that heavy and horrible beating of her heart? MADMAN!" (Poe pg#). Many unusual things ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... Madeline must've drank their blood and walked upstairs to kill Roderick. That's why when she stepped into the room she had blood all over the front of her white robes and attacked Roderick. Also, a stanza in the poem says "The Haunted palace" it says "But evil things, in robes of sorrow, Assailed the monarch's high estate; (Ah, let us mourn, for never morrow shall dawn upon him, desolate!)" (Poe pg#). This particular stanza is telling us that in "The Haunted Palace" something dreadful must've happened to the family ( such as a vampire bite) , and nothing was ever the same after the incident. The lovely Madeline not only looked beautiful when she was alive, she looked beautiful when she was dead too. When she passed away, her cheeks were rosy red from her blushing which is an impossible thing to do when you are dead. "the mockery of a faint blush, upon the bosom and face, and that suspiciously lingering upon the lip which is so terrible in death." Madeline's beauty clearly points to vampirism, and the narrator was not the only person who noticed. Although the servants did not play big roles in this story, the ones that they were in were very important. When the narrator first entered 'The House of ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
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  • 77. House Of Usher Symbolism "The Fall of the House of Usher" is a story laced with supernatural events. While symbolism is often believed to play a big part in the story, it is truly a fantasy tale involving a curse, a demon man who plots to murder his sister, and an undead, revenge seeking woman. Poe is known for his use of supernatural effects in short stories, so this is the most realistic interpretation of the story. One of the major events that is claimed to be one of Poe's symbols is the crack in the house that the narrator points out. This crack is said to symbolize the line of Ushers that is coming to an end. There is only two remaining in the family, and they are both very sickly. However, it is clear that the house is very old, and Poe may have added the crack to add to the creepy setting and vibe. The inhabitants of the house are very creepy, and it makes sense that the house would display that. This brings about the next point. A theory is that Roderick and Madeline symbolize the dualism of emotion/body and rationality/mind within people. Roderick is supposedly symbolic of the human's mental capacity and intellect because he has a mental ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... However, "The Fall of the House of Usher" leans on the side of supernatural and fantasy. He incorporates a sinister and eerie house for the setting, a curse of some sort that has taken over the Usher line, and a brother who can see the future and predicts his sister's death. Madeline even returns from the dead near the end. Taking this story in a more literal sense alters one's view and creates a reading experience that is uniquely different from much of Poe's other works. Whether he meant for readers to find symbolism and deep meaning in this story or to take it literally as a supernatural tale, audiences may never know. However, it is beneficial to understand the two possible interpretations of the story in order to better your understanding of ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...