Humanity’s Fascination with the Dark An Analysis of the Setting of The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe and Where is Here? by Joyce Carol Oates As humans, we both fear and are attracted to the dark and the broken; the abandoned, the collapsing, the fragile, the decaying, the creepy. We are simultaneously repelled and attracted by these ideas. Humanity has a certain, almost secretive, reluctant dance with the darker side of its own nature. Sometimes this darkness is more ominescing when cast upon a normal, ordinary setting, off in a way we cannot name nor determine. The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe and Where is Here? by Joyce Carol Oates both use two seemingly opposite settings to convey the bizarre and haunting in a potent way. …show more content…
Those these two settings seem quite opposite, they both convey a similar mood. In Usher, Poe conveys a sinister setting through darkness and drear. The surroundings in this story are unnaturally dark. On the other hand, Where is Here? by Oates has a cozy, well-lit setting. This setting is sinister and dark in its own way, however. Due to the seeming cheeriness of the scene it provides a menacing atmosphere due to the apparent naturalness being intruded upon by the unnatural. The stranger in this story is not necessarily dark in appearance, but in spirit, the couple of the house is able to sense the darkness of his distracted mind. This impression with no certain evidence is in many ways more disturbing than a scene which is certainly dark and gloomy. However, there is no denying that Poe’s story certainly chills its audience with its ominously dark