Similarities Between The Devil And Tom Walker And The Fall Of The House Of Usher

Robert T. Kiyosaki once said, “People’s lives are forever controlled by two emotions: fear and greed.” - People who don't face their fears or become greedy, tend to spend their lives hiding from their fears and taking advantage of others, and those fears and that greed can end up taking control of them. People who become overtaken by fear or greed tend to overlook the smaller aspects of life which eventually, leads to their vanquishing. The stories, “The Devil & Tom Walker” by Washington Irving (1824) and “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allen Poe (1839) are exemplifications of gothic literature. The authors use literary elements such as mood, images, foreshadowing, and metaphors/similes to create tension and suspense within the story.

Washington Irving uses many examples of foreshadowing and mood throughout the story to scare/spook the reader. For instance, when Irving describes Tom Walker’s house, he describes how only, “straggling saving trees, emblems of sterility” grow near the house and how “no smoke ever curled from its chimney”, and “no traveler stopped at its door.” To convey to the reader that the house is run down and looks abandoned. A case of foreshadowing can be found in paragraph 1 when Irving recounts the tale of a cursed treasure and how “the devil presided at the hiding of the money and took it under his guardianship”. This foreshadows the events ensuingly and establishes that some sort of witchcraft/extramundane activity is present throughout the

His sister is his only heir, and his only chance to keep the family from dying out. His sister contracts a disease, thus causing Usher to become mad, as the story progresses slowly. Throughout the story, Edgar Allen Poe uses many forms of literary elements, such as images and descriptive words, to frighten the reader. A paradigm of this imagery is exhibited in paragraph 11 when Roderick Usher explains his mental illness to the narrator, and he confesses he’s not afraid of danger, “except in its absolute effect–in terror”, and how he has begun to question whether or not he should, “abandon life and reason together” because of his, “struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR." Edgar Allen Poe utilizes these descriptive words and phrases to illustrate to the reader the struggles that Roderick Usher is going through. Another sample of imagery can be perceived in paragraph 17 when the narrator notices there is “a flood of intense rays” coming out of the vault, even though there was “no outlet” or “other artificial source of light.” By utilizing imagery, Roderick Usher can convey to the reader how much the unusual source of light, startles and perplexes the narrator since there is no way for light to get into the