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What Is The Symbolism In The Fall Of The House Of Usher

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In 1839, Edgar Allan Poe wrote “The Fall of the House of Usher.” He intended to entertain while making people think about the deeper meanings behind various elements, and he succeeded. It is the story of a family’s end, as seen by an outsider. It tells about what could happen if someone remains isolated from society for a long time and of insanity caused by guilt. Edgar Allan Poe deserves the fame he has received for his skill in creating the perfect setting to match the mood, his thought-provoking symbolism, and his word choice. The story starts with an unnamed narrator arriving at the House of Usher in order to visit Roderick Usher, an old friend that is slowly dying and going insane. Madeline, Roderick’s twin sister, is put into a vault, presumably dead. Roderick spirals further into insanity over the next days. Madeline gets out, as she was not dead - which Roderick knew all along. After coming into the room where the narrator and Roderick are, she dies of exhaustion and leading to Roderick’s death by fright. The narrator quickly leaves the house, which collapses shortly after he gets a little ways away. …show more content…

Even without going into detail of the house’s appearance the “sense of insufferable gloom” the narrator gets tells a lot about the house. The house itself is moldy and falling apart and the surrounding landscape isn’t any better. Many rooms are dark and shrouded in mystery, the vault Madeline was entombed in being the worst of them all. As the story gets darker, the weather changes from dark and cloudy to a horrible storm which it remains to the

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Mental illness, incest, pure horror, and maybe even vampires, “The Fall of the House of Usher” has very perplexing symbolism and metaphors that can be hard to decipher. The symbolism in his stories reflects his horrific past in a unique way for each piece. By using imagery and symbolism in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Poe creates very controversial topics to be discussed by the reader such as what Poe meant with the imagery he used to describe the appearance of The House of Usher, Roderick and Madeline's supposed mental illness, and "The Haunted Palace". To begin with, there is a great deal of symbolism in "The Haunted Palace". "

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When the narrator first was reconnected with Rodrick, they were talking and the narrator learned something disturbing about the Usher family. “The entire family lay in the direct line of descent” (Poe). Showing the family dynamic and how it was forced upon the Usher twins since their whole family had done it before. As the narrator is feeling like he is going insane he meets with Rodrick for the last time learning what is truly happening in the house. “The rendering of her coffin, and the grating of the iron hinges of her prison, and her struggles within the coppered archway of the vault!”

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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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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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