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Literary Elements In The Fall Of The House Of Usher

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Considered a precursor of modern psychoanalytical fiction as he carefully depicts the inner workings of the human mind - trapped in the grotesque nightmares of the irrational - Edgar Allan Poe masterfully combines literary elements and techniques such as diction, point of view, symbolism, allegory and personification adding also a series of gothic and macabre themes - death, decay, premature burial and incestuous relationships - in order to create memorable settings and imagery full of suspense, mystery and an overwhelming sense of darkness and despair. Written in 1893, Poe’s best-known fantastic novella “The Fall of the House of Usher” provides a vision upon a “world gone barren “. A tale of sickness, incestuous love between siblings, …show more content…

The decaying building is more then just a setting for the story, as it gradually develops into a full literary character. The initial description of the house bears a significant detail: “a thin crack which extends from the roof of the house, down the front of the building and into the lake”. This split mirrors not only Roderick’s distinct physical traits but can very well be seen as the beginning of his illness and sufferings. The noises, the process of disintegration of the house and the lugubrious, insufferable gloomy atmosphere alongside the stressed feeling of isolation and alienation are all phases of Roderick’s frail and fractured psyche as it slowly submerges into insanity.A truly enigmatic figure, the narrator bears no name, nor any physical traits and plays the role of an outsider, a visitor whose only apparent task seems to be that of informing the reader of the other participants in this intricate horror story. Roderick’s former schoolmate and now a guest at his mansion, the narrator acts as a mediator between the mysterious, uncanny reality of the House of Usher and the outside world. Placed inside the mind of this leading character-narrator the reader is able to observe his pattern of thought as it characteristically wavers between acceptance of the phenomena that surrounds the house and his futile attempts in trying to explain them. Although having been given ample signs and warnings (such as the perplexing scene in which he blindly agrees to help his childhood friend with the strange and undoubtedly morbid funeral of his sister), he is often too inept to put the clues together, thus making him a highly unreliable narrator.With no temporal clues, this dreary horror story takes place at the end of an imprecise and purely fictional age, during “a dull, dark, soundless day” of the allegorical season of doom, despair, tragedy and disaster -

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Impermanence, and the Power of the Dead Over the Living in Poe Edgar Allan Poe experienced a lot of death throughout his life, many of his loved ones had slow and painful deaths as he looked on helplessly. These experiences and his feelings of uncertainty are mirrored in his writing, in Fall of the House of Usher and in Berenice. In Fall of the House of Usher, the narrator receives a message from an old friend from boyhood, Roderick, asking him to come to his home because he is very sick and wants to see his friend again before he dies. When the narrator goes to his Roderick’s house he is reminded that his friend comes from a very rich, old family that goes in a direct line of descent.

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The text states that “ ghastly pallor of the skin” creeped out the narrator because he was looking like he was dying. This reveals that the setting is actually what the family looks like. Rodric was afraid that he would be the only Usher left. The narrator watches voice of a thousand waters-and the deep dank tarn at (his) feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the “House of Ushers“ He sees what remained of the usher family and the estate. This reveals that the estate is almost life-like.

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The imagery Poe crafts into the story sets a mysterious,and almost melancholy mood complemented by the tone. In The Fall of the House of Usher, the story is started by the quote “During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens.” immediately creating a creepy, melancholy tone to make the reader get a feel of the solemn sadness of the story as soon as the story starts. Annabel Lee, a sad story where the narrator loses the love of his life, is turned creepy when the narrator sleeps with a dead Annabel Lee in her tomb. The quote “And so, all the night-tide, “I lie down by the side Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,” makes the reader shift from feeling sad for a man that just lost his young wife, to creeped by a man who takes death cannot end our love

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Poe implements the same want to put one in the mind of fear. In his short story “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Poes

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Imagery in Decay Topic: How Poe uses Imagery to further the plot in The Fall of the House of Usher Tentative thesis: Through the use of imagery Edgar Allan Poe shows a decrepit, dying family; by portraying the decay of both the house and those who reside in it Poe sets up the final fate of the two main characters in his short story. Topic sentence 1: Throughout the short story Poe uses the landscape and the very trees to give the house a supernatural life and induce horror in the reader.

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When he talks about the house he gives it human characteristics. For example in Disfiguration in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’; or, Poe’s Mad Lines it states “in other words, the house, described in human terms with its “eye-like windows” making it sound like the house is a face (Pahl 1). The way the narrator describes listening to Roderick talk gives human characteristics to an inanimate object. In “The Fall of the House of Usher” he states “to the wild improvisations of his speaking guitar” explaining how the guitar speaks like a human (Poe11). There are multiple examples of personification used in this dark short story.

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The crack in the house and the dead trees imply that the house and its surroundings are not sturdy or promising. These elements indicate that a positive outcome is not expected. The thunder,strange light, and mist create a spooky feeling for the reader. In "The Fall of the house of Usher," Edgar Allan Poe creates suspense and fear in the reader. He also tries to convince the reader not to let fear overcome him.

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In his short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Edgar Allen Poe uses foreshadowing to show how Roderick is sad to let go of Madeline. A quote showing this is: The disease which had thus entombed the lady in the maturity of her youth, had left, as usual in all maladies of a strictly cataleptical character, the mockery of a faint blush upon the bosom and the face, and that suspiciously lingering smile upon the lip which is so terrible in death. We replaced and screwed down the lid, and, having secured the door of iron, made our way, with toil, into the scarcely less gloomy apartments of the upper portion of the house (Poe 403).

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As the narrator entered the house to meet up with his acquaintance from boyhood, he realized how “terribly altered” Roderick had become, to the point in which it was hard to “admit the identity of the wan before [him]” (Poe, 8). The pact time Roderick Usher was seen by the narrator, the process of metamorphosis had obviously taken place. Seen in The Fall of the House of Usher the type of metamorphosis that has taken place is most likely a natural form that is seen throughout many human beings as time passes. This is still increasing the feelings of mystery and suspense because the reader starts to feel a sense of distress after hearing how much Mr. Usher has changed. The Fall of the House of Usher shows metamorphosis seen in human beings.

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I feel that period will sooner rather than later or soon arrive when I must abandon life and reason together, in some struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR”. (Poe 5) Roderick feels as if he has made a mistake by staying in the house for so long. Roderick proclaims that the house has cast a curse on the entire Usher blood line. Roderick’s current mental state could also be attributed to his connection to the house to the House. Roderick explains how he feels like he is connected to the house in a certain superstitious way.

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1669 Words | 7 Pages

“ The Fall of the House of Usher “ by Edgar Allan Poe is a short story about a man named Roderick Usher who initiates some events such as evoking his friend The Narrator as a protagonist to the dreadful mansion. The images such as the house and gothic ambience are used to reinforce the idea of giving the mystery to the reader. Edgar Allan Poe uses gothic elements to show how they affect the atmosphere and the characters. In the beginning , the gothic atmosphere of the house is indicated with terrifying images such as “ dull, dark and soundless ” that the feeling of horror vaccinated into reader by the thoughts of the narrator.

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“The Fall of the House of Usher,” a gothic fiction short story written by Edgar Allan Poe, is pervaded by multiple examples of post-structuralist philosopher Jacques Derrida’s philosophy of trace. A close examination of the narrative reveals a distinct trace between incestual conception and the current condition of the Usher siblings through the physical and mental hinders which oppress them; a relationship between the occupants of the Usher estate and the trace of themselves which they inflict on the outside of it; and the traces of the author’s personal life within the storyline through the motif of live entombment. Articulated by philosopher Jacques Derrida, the philosophy of trace identifies the relationship between the absent and the presence

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Throughout “The Fall of the House of Usher,” metaphor and symbolism are heavily relied upon to express the extent of the madness that resides within the Usher House. In the short story, Poe creates a symbolic parallel between the art and stories that are seen and told. It can be implied, from a painting, in the Usher house, that Lady Madeline Usher is still alive. The reader can also imply that there is a hidden tunnel or room under the entirety of the house. “The Mad Trist” indirectly tells the reader of Lady Madeline’s escape from the tomb she had been placed in.

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In “The Fall of the House of Usher” the tone gives off an eerie and bizarre feeling. This is similar to many of Poe’s other short stories but this piece the most. The tone is gloomy compared to “The Black Cat” that Poe has also written. The author starts off the story with immense details of the setting. The readers get a dark vibe from these details.

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Throughout American literature and cinema history, the premature burial of someone has been displayed. In the American gothic short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” by Edgar Allan Poe, this is portrayed as well. Roderick Usher buries his twin sister, Madeline Usher, alive because he believes that she has died. In Poe’s, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” it showcases Poe’s troubled past with the death of loved ones due to disease. Thus, it contributes to the theme one can never trust anyone, even one’s own family.

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