The Role of Art in “The Fall of the House of Usher
Art can be expressed within writing pieces, poems and short stories in various types of forms. Edgar Allen Poe uses music as a form of art to help the main character Roderick try to cope with his unstable state of mind. Roderick experiences moral dilemmas and music serves to distort his feelings unintentionally. Simiraily, the ancient greek philosopher Aristotle believed that for a balance of life one needs to encounter the bad experiences in order to feel better and move on to better times. Furthermore, his belief was focused that one needs to participate in negative emotions to relieve the pain that he or she feels. Edgar Allan Poe creates a character in desperate need of aid in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” utilizing an aspect of art: music, to try and relieve Roderick of the pain he is dealing with a the solution to his suffering, but does not provide permanent relief.
Art in “The Fall of the House of Usher” is structured to have Roderick arouse feelings of cheerfulness as he listens to music. For instance, his mental state was abnormal based on the narrator 's initial description, “He suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the senses; the most insipid food was alone endurable...could wear only garments of certain texture...flowers were oppressive...tortured by a faint light...and these from stringed instruments, which did not inspire him with horror” (Poe 164). The narrator 's depiction of Roderick portrays him