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Doubling In The Fall Of The House Of Usher

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Insanity- a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world. Edgar Allan Poe demonstrates this idea throughout many of his writings. “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a Gothic literature piece about insest and madness between twins, Madeline and Roderick Usher and is best explained through the theories of “The Uncanny” which pertain to using objects either in two or a mere reflection to create different interpretations of what they could mean. Edgar Allan Poe incorporates “The Uncanny” in an immaculate way by establishing its predominance through his definitive use of doubling within his characterization and symbolism.
To begin with, the use of doubling has an outstanding effective in Poe’s writing because of his tendency in incorporating insanity with love. In this story, two twins, Madeline and Roderick Usher live together in a broken down, house like castle. It is reasonable to say they love each other as they are siblings but knowing Poe’s …show more content…

One of the main symbols within this piece is the tarn as it is used to reflect the broken down house Madeline and Roderick Usher live in. This house has a very prominent feature, it has a huge fissure on the side making the structure weak. In “The Fall of the House of Usher” Usher states, “. . . 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-hideous dropping off of the veil.” I have come to the conclusion that the house is a representation of Roderick Usher himself. As there is a gap between Usher and reality as he suffers from a hyposensitivity to everything. Him being alone mentally since his sister suffers from cataleptical has driven him to insanity. As previously stated when Madeline fell upon Roderick and he died, it caused the house to fall

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In “The Fall of the House of Usher” the narrator tends do compare the house to a person. In paragraph 1, the house is described the have “vacant eyelike windows” and “an utter depression soul”. These are both human-like characteristics that a house can not actually have. Roderick Usher began playing his guitar while the narrator was there and the music was so pretty he described the guitar as a “speaking guitar”. This shows that that him playing the guitar was so amazing that it sounded like it was speaking to him but that can never happen.

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Both World War I (WWI) and World War II (WWII) changed the idea of freedom by expanding rights in America. Before these wars, there was inequality among genders as well as ethnic groups. WWI was a fight democracy and WWII was a fight for true freedom. While WWI changed the idea of freedom in a social sense, WWII focused more on the idea of economic freedom. WWI changed the idea of freedom more for democracy than WWII did by dealing with civil liberties and social issues.

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Another piece of evidence suggest the house represents the head of a human due to the description of the blonde hair and it described as having eyes. On page two in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’; or, Poe’s Mad Lines it states “the logic of this imagery suggests that the House Of Usher is supposed to represent a human skull, but one that is “haunted” or falling apart”

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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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The narrator describes the house of having “vacant eye-like windows-upon a few rank sedges-and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees-...” (Poe, line 9) and “There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart-...” (Poe, line 12) the “sickening of the heart” and “vacant eye-like windows” are examples of figurative language that foreshadows the misinterpreted death of Usher’s twin sister Madaline as they placed her in the the cellar of the house for later examination by physicians to find what disease she had come down

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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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Deep within every person there is a sense of fear that terrifies them for life. In Edgar Allen Poe’s story “The Fall of the house of Usher”, the narrator enters the home of a lifelong friend, Usher, who has fallen to the fear he has held within him. Usher’s twin sister, Madeline, has Usher on edge thinking that she is dead. When they bury her, she comes back to life and takes him away to die with him. They are the last two of the family of Ushers.

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In “Fall Of House Of Usher” the brother is revealed as mentally ill and kills the sister. “ Madman! I tell you that she now stands without the door!” ( Poe 30). However, in “ House Taken Over” the brother ends up saving the sister and they disappear.

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“ 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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that the stem of the Usher race . . . 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 2) Despite the incestual means of their conception occurring in the past, resulting genetic defects oppress the Usher siblings Madeline and Roderick—both physically and mentally—well into the future. Although the narrator provides no physical description of Madeline Usher prior to her entombment, of her brother Roderick he reports deformed features in line with those of products of

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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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This sets the reader up to know that something is off. The manor is beginning to fall apart just like Roderick’s sanity. Poe plays up the tension towards the end of the story, presenting the fear as it comes to a head. Madeline, Roderick’s twin sister, is entombed by her brother and the narrator after they believe her dead. She’s put in another tomb by Roderick’s insistence before arrangements to be given a proper burial.

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Sometimes being alone can be beneficial for some in small doses, however constant loneliness can annihilate a person. Edgar Allen Poe explores how isolation strengthens internal fear which leads to the metal break through “The Fall of the house of Usher.” The narrator's experiences are explained in great detail along with Poe dropping hints at what is to come throughout the story. He explains the extreme isolation of the Usher’s in order to convey the impact has on the body and mind. Poe uses the reader’s five senses and multiple connections in the short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” to manifest how social confinement bolsters internal fear which leads to the psychological break down on a person.

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Furthermore, his belief was focused that one needs to participate in negative emotions to relieve the pain that he or she feels. Edgar Allan Poe creates a character in desperate need of aid in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” utilizing an aspect of art: music, to try and relieve Roderick of the pain he is dealing with a the solution to his suffering, but does not provide permanent relief. Art in “The Fall of the House of Usher” is structured to have Roderick arouse feelings of cheerfulness as he listens to music. For instance, his mental state was abnormal based on the narrator 's initial description, “He suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the senses; the most insipid food was alone endurable...could wear only garments of certain texture... flowers were oppressive...tortured by a faint light...and these from stringed instruments, which did not inspire him with horror” (Poe 164).

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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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