The Fall Of The House Of Usher 2

The Fall Of The House Of Usher: Imagery And Parallelism Essay, Research Paper

The Fall of the House of Usher: Imagery and Parallelism

In his short story “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Edgar Allen Poe

presents his reader with an intricately suspenseful plot filled with a

foreboding sense of destruction. Poe uses several literary devices, among the

most prevalent, however are his morbid imagery and eerie parallelism. Hidden in

the malady of the main character are several different themes, which are all

slightly connected yet inherently different.

Poe begins the story by placing the narrator in front of the decrepit,

decaying mansion of Roderick Usher. Usher summoned his childhood friend, the

narrator, to his home by sending a letter detailing only a minor illness.

After the narrator arrives and sees the condition of the house he becomes

increasingly superstitious. When the narrator first sees his host he describes

his morbid appearance and it arouses his superstition even more. Over a period

of time the narrator begins to understand his friends’ infliction, insanity. He

tries in vane to comfort his friend and provide solace, however to no avail.

When Roderick’s only remaining kin, his sister Madeline dies, Rodericks insanity

seems to have gone to a heightened level. Shortly after his sister’s death,

Roderick’s friend is reading him a story. As things happen in the story,

simultaneously the same description of the noises come from within the house.

As Usher tries to persuade the narrator that it is his sister coming for him,

and his friend believing Roderick has gone stark raving mad, Madeline comes

bursting in through the door and kills her brother. The narrator flees from the

house, and no sooner does he get away than he turns around and sees a fissure in

the houses masonry envelop the house and then watch the ground swallow up the

remains.

In “The Fall of the House of Usher” Poe introduces the reader to three

characters; Lady Madeline, Roderick Usher, and the narrator, whose name is never

given. Lady Madelin, the twin sister of Roderick Usher, does not speak one word

throughout the story. In fact she is absent from most of the story, and she and

the narrator do not stay together in the same room. After the narrators arrival

she takes to her bed and falls into a catatonic state. He helps to bury her and

put her away in a vault, but when she reappears he flees. Before she was buried

she roamed around the house quietly not noticing anything, completely overcome

by her mental disorder.

Roderick Usher appears to be an educated man. He comes from a wealthy

family and owns a huge library. According to the narrator, he had once been an

attractive man and .the character of his face had been at all times remarkable.

(Poe, 126). However , his appearance had deteriorated over time. Roderick’s

altered appearance probably was caused by his insanity. The narrator notes

various symptoms of insanity from Roderick’s behavior. Roderick’s state worsens

throughout the story as he becomes increasingly restless and unstable,

especially after the burial of his sister. He find himself unable to sleep and

also finds that he hears noises. All in all he is a severely unbalanced man

trying to maintain an equilibrium in his life.

In contrast to Roderick, the narrator appears to be a man of common sense.

He seems to have a good heart in that he comes to help a friend from his

childhood. He, like, Roderick also appears to be very educated and very

analytical. In his observations of Usher he concludes that his friend suffers

from an acute mental disorder. He looks for natural explanations for the odd

things that Roderick senses. Criticizing Usher for his outrageous fantasies,

the narrator claims that Roderick is .enchained by certain superstitious

impressions, in regard to the dwelling which he tenanted.(Poe,125). The

narrator’s tone suggests that he cannot understand Usher. However he himself is

superstitious.

The three characters are unique people with different characteristics, but

they all eventually suffer from the same mental disorder. All of them suffer

from insanity, yet each responds differently. Madeline seems to accept the fact

that she is insane and continues through life with that knowledge. Roderick

seems to realize his mental state and makes every effort to hold on his sanity.

And the narrator who is slowly but surely contracting the disease, wants to deny

what he sees, hears, and senses. In the end he regains his senses but only

because he flees from the house.

Poes writings are known for their macabre subject matter. In .The Fall of

the House of Usher., Poe uses the life-like characteristics of an otherwise

decaying house as a device for giving the house a supernatural atmosphere. From

the beginning of the story the narrator claims to have sensed something unu

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