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

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In Edgar Allan Poe's short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, and in Julio Cortázar's short story, “House Taken Over”, both stories use very similar characters to show the terrible effects of loneliness and fear. Poe uses dramatic language and tormented characters to build suspense, while Cortázar uses simplistic language to emphasize how ridiculous fear can be. Poe’s character, Roderick Usher, “[suffers]...from a morbid acuteness of [his] senses” (Poe 10). The author uses negative connotations to describe his characters ailment, but he makes it unclear as to what Usher suffers from, all to create anticipation for the readers. Cortázar does not go into depth describing his characters, but the behavior they portray keeps the audience intrigued.