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How Does Poe Use Imagery In The Fall Of The House Of Usher

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Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of The House of Usher is a haunting story about a man that get invited to a mysterious mansion and his experience staying in this ancient, gloomy place. Poe uses imagery and other literary devices to entrance readers in the mind of the narrator and undergo the same feelings as him. As our narrator approaches the mansion, Poe sets the scene for a very gothic and somber setting. Poe uses words like “melancholy” and “insufferable gloom” to preface the narrator seeing the mansion. As the narrator approaches the mansion, the words he uses paints a clear picture of the house. The narrator describes the bleak walls and the decaying trees along the mansion. Poe is obviously creating an uneasy feeling within the readers by explaining all the eerie details of what the narrator is seeing. The narrator feels anxious getting …show more content…

Roderick lives in the mansion with his twin sister Madeline. Even though the narrator says that Rodrick was one of his closest friends, he does not know much about him. The narrator did not know Rodrick had a twin sister which shows just how closed off Rodrick must have been when it comes to his family when he was younger and even now. Roderick Usher invited the narrator to the mansion to cheer him up. Roderick had sent him a letter explaining that he was not feeling well mentally or physically and would love if the narrator came to the house. Rodrick is physically very weak and mentally he cannot distinguish reality and fantasy. Madeline on the other hand, has a condition where her muscles move involuntarily. This can be due to the incestuous lineage of their family as the narrator explains that their family tree has no branches. Madeline and Rodrick have opposite disabilities at the start but when Madeline “dies” we see Rodrick get weaker than he was. The twins mirror each other’s ailments because while Madeline has a physical impediment, Rodrick has a mental

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