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The Fall Of The House Of Usher Mental Illness

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The Theme of Mental illness in the Fall of the house of usher by edgar allan poe
Mental illness has been a recurrent theme in literature throughout history, as it provides a powerful lens through which to explore the human condition and the complexities of the mind. In literature, mental illness is often used to represent the internal struggles of characters, as well as to comment on larger social and cultural issues.

In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," the theme of mental illness is central to the story, as it is used to convey the psychological decay of the characters and the ominous atmosphere of the Usher mansion. The story is considered to be a classic example of Gothic literature, which often deals with themes of madness …show more content…

First, the estate is described as being in a state of decay and disrepair, with cracks in the walls, a generally gloomy atmosphere, and an overall sense of rotting and corruption. This imagery of decay and corruption is closely tied to the characters' psychological states, as it serves as a metaphor for their mental deterioration. The condition of the estate reflects the mental state of the characters, and it also contributes to the overall eerie and ominous atmosphere of the story.

Second, the Usher estate is also closely tied to the characters' family history of mental illness. The narrator notes that the Usher family has a history of "nerve-related" illnesses, and this history is closely tied to the condition of the estate. The estate serves as a symbol of the family's history of mental illness and it is also seen as the source of the characters' current psychological …show more content…

This would not be an unreasonable reaction for such a tragic and traumatic occurrence. Still I believe that the death of Roderic was deeply connected to his mental state.
While reading the ending, the first instinct would be to think that the sister could have really been alive and broken out of her tomb to later cause the death of Roderic but as the author of The Dual Hallucination In "The Fall of the House of Usher" notices, the torches in the vault were half extinguished due to the lack of oxygen and the heavy iron doors and copper walls would restrict airflow even more. Moreover Madeline at the end of the book would have been deprived of oxygen food and water for a week which even if she survived those circumstances, would render her too weak for her to break the coffin and the doors to her tomb to break out in the state that she was. Because of this It is not unreasonable to think that Madeline was nothing more than a hallucination and that Roderic’s death was caused purely by his decreasing mental state with no outside cause. Even the fact that the narrator also seems to see the body of the sister and seemed sure of what he saw could be easily explained. The narrator narrator is only human and from the little information we are told about him we know that he himself has been feeling maddened by staying with Roderick as he states

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The text states that “ ghastly pallor of the skin” creeped out the narrator because he was looking like he was dying. This reveals that the setting is actually what the family looks like. Rodric was afraid that he would be the only Usher left. The narrator watches voice of a thousand waters-and the deep dank tarn at (his) feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the “House of Ushers“ He sees what remained of the usher family and the estate. This reveals that the estate is almost life-like.

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In the reading, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Edgar Allen Poe uses many intricate metaphors to create a feeling of unsettlety. When the narrator speaks with his friend Roderick, he is told about the very fate of Roderick Usher,

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At the beginning of the story, Edgar compares the Usher house to a living person. The detail that Usher says' ' vacant eyelike window ``'' decayed trees ``'' bleak walls ``'' rank sedges ``''utter depression of soul” (paragraph 1 ) The narrator compares these terms with a living human. Whereas ,” It was this deficiency . . . , so identified the two as to merge the original title of the estate in the quaint and equivocal appellation of the “House of Usher''- an appellation which seemed to include, in the midst of the peasantry who used it , both the family and the family mansion. ``( paragraph 3) The “House of Usher'' seems to be symbolic of the family and the building.

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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. "

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When the narrator sees Usher for the first time in years, he “gazed upon him with a feeling half of pity, half of awe. Surely, man had never before so terribly altered, in so brief a period, as had Roderick Usher!”. From the moment Roderick is introduced, he is described with ominous tones. Although the reader has no idea what Usher had looked like before his illness, the thoughts of the narrator invoke an unsure and suspenseful mood. After spending more time with him, the narrator had also come to learn that “He was enchained by certain superstitious impressions in regard to the dwelling which he tenanted, and whence, for many years, he had never ventured forth—in regard to an influence whose supposititious force was conveyed in terms too shadowy here to be re-stated—an influence which some peculiarities in the mere form and substance of his family mansion had, by dint of long sufferance, he said, obtained over his spirit—an effect which the physique of the gray walls and turrets, and of the dim tarn into which they all looked down, had, at length, brought about upon the morale of his existence.”.

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He receives a letter from Roderick telling him that his sister is sick and he needs help. She ends up dying from catalepsy putting them both in a stressful situation. They end up burying her alive under the house. She crawls out and attacks Roderick and he dies from fear while she ends up dying completely . The narrator runs away from the house as it falls apart behind him.

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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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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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“ 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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The physical house reflects the end of the Usher bloodline as it still stands on the edge of ruin, away from civilization. While the house itself is splitting due to the fissure that is tearing it apart, the twins are being torn apart by the disease that will soon take them. Ultimately, the house does fall to the “black and lurid tarn” (Poe 196) and the twins return to the ground having met the demise that they had been molded to by “preternatural interconnectedness” (Timmerman

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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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The end of Roderick’s life is described as, “... in her violent and how final death-agonies bore him to the floor a corpse, and a victim to the terrors he had anticipated” (Poe 430). Throughout the story, Roderick anticipated that his sister’s spirit would try to attack him because he had always heard her voice

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