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The Fall Of The House Of Usher Essay

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Recommended: Elements of gothic literature

In today’s world, seeing a house completely demolished would question even the smartest person, and most would assume this is the case in the 18th century. This is what most would have seen in the time of Romanticism Era when Edgar Allan Poe wrote “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Writers of this time use Gothic elements in their works such as dark or mysterious tone, isolated setting, or paranormal occurrences. The setting in Gothic stories are used to evoke an atmosphere of horror and dread. Poe greatly used these Gothic elements in his works. Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” is filled with macabre examples using character traits and setting. Poe’s way of using a macabre tone through characterization can be found in a variety of ways. Roderick Usher lived in the House of Usher with his sister Madeline. Poe describes Roderick on line 172, “Into what he conceived to be the nature of his malady,” (417). From this quote alone, the readers are told that Roderick has a sickness. Mysterious …show more content…

The story takes place at the House of Usher, a house isolated from most. Poe states an eerie setting from the get go in the beginning of the story, “During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens,” (412). From the start of the reading, most can comprehend that actions are going to be spooky with word choices such as dull and dark. Gothic elements use intimidating words to describe setting. The story continues to use words such as those to leave the macabre tone. Poe describes the House of Usher, “The general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered. ” (416). Poe describes one of the rooms in the house using words that make the room seem uninviting. This makes the setting of the room sound dull and unwelcoming. The settings Poe uses throughout “The Fall of the House of Usher” sets the atmosphere of horror and

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Imagery in Decay Topic: How Poe uses Imagery to further the plot in The Fall of the House of Usher Tentative thesis: Through the use of imagery Edgar Allan Poe shows a decrepit, dying family; by portraying the decay of both the house and those who reside in it Poe sets up the final fate of the two main characters in his short story. Topic sentence 1: Throughout the short story Poe uses the landscape and the very trees to give the house a supernatural life and induce horror in the reader.

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There was a sharp turn at every twenty or thirty yards, and at each turn a novel effect.” In the description of the house in “The Fall of the House of the Usher” is very displeasing as well. “…And upon a few white trunks of decayed trees—which I can compare no earthly sensation more properly then to the after-dream of the reveler upon opium.” Even the narrator describes a depressing feeling from the look of the Usher house. There is a similar eerie setting in “The Man of the Crowd.”

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The story begins with the narrator admitting that he is a "very dreadfully nervous" type. This type is found throughout all of Poe 's fiction, particularly in the over-wrought, hyper-sensitive Roderick Usher in "The Fall of the House of Usher. " As with Usher, the narrator here believes that his nervousness has "sharpened my senses — not destroyed — not dulled them." Thus, he begins by stating that he is not mad, yet he will continue his story and will reveal not only that he is mad, but that he is terribly mad. His sensitivities allow him to hear and sense things in heaven, hell, and on earth that other people are not even aware of.

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The stories use of symbolism extends from the house itself to even the atmosphere around the house, exemplify the style of the era. Poe’s convention of symbolism can be seen when the narrator approaches the house, and notes “that about the whole mansion and domain there hung an atmosphere peculiar to themselves and their immediate vicinity -- an atmosphere which had no affinity with the air of heaven, but which had reeked up from the decayed trees, and the gray wall, and the silent tarn” (Poe 2). Throughout the story, the atmosphere of gloom is mentioned. For instance, later in the story the narrator notes the gloominess again when the weather outside his window seems disconnected to the rest of the weather of the area. Furthermore, the narrators uneasiness with the house is made evident when inside the house, he feels an

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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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Gothic literature and magical realism are different because one is based on supernatural occurrences on Earth while the other is based on scary but natural things on Earth. In Edgar Allan Poe’s “Fall of the House of Usher,” Usher 's sister dies in a natural way and so does Usher so nothing unnatural happens. For instance Usher tells the narrator that he buried his sister alive and that he 's been knowing about it for

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Throughout “The Fall of the House of Usher,” metaphor and symbolism are heavily relied upon to express the extent of the madness that resides within the Usher House. In the short story, Poe creates a symbolic parallel between the art and stories that are seen and told. It can be implied, from a painting, in the Usher house, that Lady Madeline Usher is still alive. The reader can also imply that there is a hidden tunnel or room under the entirety of the house. “The Mad Trist” indirectly tells the reader of Lady Madeline’s escape from the tomb she had been placed in.

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Poe tells the reader how the night is filled with gloom and dread that hangs over the main character “During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country, and at length found myself, as the shades of evening dew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher”. The main character then looks over and describes the house itself in detail, Poe uses many words such as “bleak”, or “desolate” to tell the reader how the house is in such

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While setting is relevant to the revelation of the story’s atmosphere, it is also crucial to note its significance to the acknowledgement of the character’s physical and mental state. Upon the narrator’s arrival in the house of Usher, Poe writes, “I looked upon the scene before me— . . . upon the bleak walls— . . . the vacant eye-like windows— . . . and . . .

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1. The house of Usher had “Insufferable gloom, ... Bleak walls, … eye-like windows” (Poe 702). This house was not welcoming and the one telling the story shows up at this house after he received a letter from his friend saying that he was sick, “nervous agitation. The writer spoke of acute bodily illness of a pitiable mental idiosyncrasy”

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The fall of the house of usher is a dark and gloomy story but you’ll understand why it is because it is written by Edgar Allen Poe. But the fall of the house of usher possesses some features of a gothic tale and a haunted house. There are plenty of mysterious sickness and doubled personality. However we cannot say for sure where in the world this story takes place. Poe changes things up in this story instead of standard narrative markers of a place or time Poe tends to use tradition gothic elements such as inclement weather.

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“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allen Poe is about a guy, the narrator, who visits his friend, Roderick Usher, because Roderick sent a letter to the narrator saying that he is sick. The narrator arrives at the house of Usher and it is dark and eerie. The narrator tries to help Roderick who has anxiety and heightened senses by reading books to him and having him play music. The house was a big part of Roderick’s paranoia. Madeline, who was Roderick’s sister, has a life threatening disease and dies.

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Edgar Allan Poe’s work is far from the work that is done today. A lot of the work that is not as horrific as Poe’s work. Poe’s stories are more of a suspense and leave his readers wanting more. The theme of his work tells us that people cannot trust their family because they never know what they are up too. In the story “The Fall of the House of Usher” all the Usher family had suffered from a mental illness.

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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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(Poe 412).” One element of gothic literature is a gloomy or decaying setting. This scene describes the gloomy setting the literature place in. The dark setting foreshadows the dark theme of the story. The houses feature also represent Poe as himself as well.

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