How Did Poe Use Fear In The Fall Of The House Of Usher

The Terrors and Phobias of Usher Edgar Allan Poe crafted the 1839 short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” in the image of fright. Poe’s natural talent of petrifying a reader with gloomy imagery is apparent in his description of the Usher house, with phrases such as, “vacant eye-like windows” and “mansion of gloom” (pg. 750). While the reader experiences a gloomy, uneasy feeling from merely reading a description of the Usher house, the most notable fears are the ones characters experience within the story. Fear seems to function in two primary ways in this story: first, Poe builds a lot of reader suspense with creepy descriptions of the crumbling house of Usher and the mentally ill characters within the house. Plot events are also revealed slowly, which builds both tension and interest for the reader. Second, the characters described within the story also experience a great deal of fear, which adds to the overall suspense of the story. Thus, these literary choices give Poe the ability to create a story that not only hones in on fear as a central theme but also allows the reader to experience the same fears that are present within the story. Poe’s choice to use the first-person point of view gives the reader a glimpse into

Suspense is built in the story through the use of the noises coming from the tomb. It creates a sense of fear in the reader that causes the reader to question if this atrocity is occurring in the depths of the house. Poe creates a symbolic event by putting Madeline in this situation, however, Poe gives a false sense of hope to the reader when Madeline is revealed as standing at the tomb door. For an instant, one is led to believe that fear is escapable and that Madeline has escaped her looming death. But these dreams are crushed when in Madeline’s final moment she attacks Roderick and he dies of fear, rendering fear not only inescapable but also