Symbolism In The Fall Of The House Of Usher

Fall of the House of Usher is a short story written by, well-known author, Edgar Allen Poe. The story begins with the narrator riding his house to his childhood friend’s home on the whims of a letter informing him of Roderick Usher’s unfortunate sickness. It’s revealed through intricate dialogue that Roderick’s, as well as his sister Madeline’s, illness can be attributed to their family history of incest. After Madeline’s death, the narrator helps lay her to rest in a personal tomb beneath the house. Soon Roderick starts to express signs of paranoia and discomfort within the house, eventually going to the narrator’s room in the middle of the night to fearfully tell him of their burreal of an alive Madeline Usher. Just as he ends his frantic explanation, Madeline trudges through the door covered in blood and collapse on Roderick, causing both to fall to the ground dead. Part of Roderick’s illness manifested itself physically through his “morbid acuteness of the senses,” but the most expressed but ignored part has to be his mental deterioration (Poe 25). Through foreshadowing and symbolism, Poe links the Usher house and tarn with the physical and mental state of the

He speaks "with a bitterness which” our narrator “can never forget” soon having tears visibly slip through his fingers (Poe 27). Roderick mentions a bond he shares with his sister Madeline that others would find hard to understand. Many speculate the twins to represent different standpoint of many subjects. However, Author Leila S. May agrees that “no one has yet discussed the twins as ‘simply’ representing themselves.” Taking Rodrick's statement from a literal point of view, this could be an obvious understatement of the incestuous relationship he shares with Madeline. His life revolves around his sister, assuming so by his prediction of his demise if Madeline were to ever pass