(855) 4-ESSAYS

Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

The Fall of the House of Usher

            In the short story The Fall of the House of Usher, Poe utilizes a variety of methods to manipulate not only the reader's emotions but also their mind by making what people dreaded and detested most come to life while at the same time retaining his readers by laying down a trap that lures and keeps them in and the only way out is to finish reading. His writing is especially successful due to the sadistic realism of the macabre style.
             The opening of the story establishes an opposition amid the narrator's experience of what has the potential to be a supernatural force and his elucidation of the events as understandable by obtuse psychological law or merely his nerves. The narrator hesitates between the natural and supernatural even though it is clear that he has a preference for the natural explanation. Because the narrator has this dilemma the reader also experiences it in addition to being torn by the two different explanations and eventually enters into a third which is a suspension between the two. The continuation of the tale purely amplifies the split which at the end is further fueled by the denial of closure. These combinations of factors add to the escalating tension and the choice between a natural and supernatural explanation of events. An unsettling tone is successful conveyed by the conscious disorientation of the reader. .
             By beginning with the description of the physically and psychologically oppressing weather through means of noise, careful word choice, and rhythm the narrator establishes an intense despondency. Further along, the portrayal of the dilapidated house only affirms the melancholy. Once the atmosphere of the story is properly set to exude only obscurity it is then that the reader becomes fully ensnared, unable to vary their gaze. As the overwhelming gloom becomes clearer to the narrator he insists that a natural explanation must exist. He even goes so far as to attempt to change his outlook although that produces "a shudder even more thrilling than before" (45).


Essays Related to The Fall of the House of Usher

1. Fall of the House of Usher

The Fall of the House of Usher "During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens- is the opening in "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allen Poe (1). ... It is a small crack in "the House of Usher" which the narrator defines as "both the family and the family mansion." ... From far away, no one knows that he, "House of Usher" is in despair. ... To him, the windows in the house to him represent Usher's eyes, and light that comes through the windows is reality. ... These quotes show that the atmosph...

  • Word Count: 733
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Usher

Various elements of Romanticism are projected through the story " The Fall of the house of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe. ... Roderick Usher's mental state throughout "The Fall of the House of Usher," we can see that he is suffering from manic-depression. ... From the beginning of "The fall of the House of Usher" we are exposed to darkness, and expect a collapse, this being Madeline's death. ... This marked "The Fall of the House of Usher." as well as existence. "The Fall of the House of Usher", and the collapse of the Usher house, past and health, portray the twisted beauty of natur...

  • Word Count: 674
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Fall of the House of Usher

One of his short stories, "The Fall of the House of Usher," is about a termination of a family and their home. ... Throughout the story, the narrator, like the house is falling. ... Death waits over Usher and his deranged house. ... As Poe clearly shows in "The Fall of the House of Usher," isolation and paranoia symbol the decay of Roderick Usher as well as his families" name, and home. ... This famous quote can also be used to describe the short story of Poe's describing the Fall of the House of Usher, with death raining down upon, the House of Usher. ...

  • Word Count: 880
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Secrets in The Fall of the House of Usher

"The Fall of the House of Usher" is a short story about a man visiting his childhood companion who happens to be ill. ... Eventually, the secrets are uncovered and both the family and the house fall to their doom. In "The Fall of the House of Usher," Edgar Allan Poe expresses the idea that the physical house represents the Usher family through descriptive imagery of death, suggestion of the family's secrets, and disintegration of both the family and the house. ... According to Spitzer, in A Reinterpretation of 'The Fall of the House of Usher,' "Roderic...

  • Word Count: 918
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography

5. House of Usher

"The Fall of the House of Usher" Setting "The Fall of the House of Usher," by Edgar Allen Poe, the setting is used extensively to do many things. ... For example, Usher's house, its windows, bricks, and dungeon are all used to make a dismal atmosphere. ... It is a small crack in "The House of Usher" which the narrator defines as "both the family and the family mansion." ... From far away, no one knows that the House of Usher is in despair. ... Usher's house itself is a symbol for Usher. ...

  • Word Count: 725
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Terror and Mystery - The Fall of the House of Usher

"The Fall of the House of Usher," " a short story published in 1939, is one of the most popular fictional narratives of Edgar Allan Poe. ... The literary crafts used in "The Fall of the House of Usher"" and their effects, materializing the terror and the mystery, are what this paper is going to examine subsequently. ... The narrative unfolded as the narrator headed for the "melancholy house of Usher. ... In classic gothic fiction, another essential characteristic is doppelganger, a ghostly counterpart of a character, and Poe incorporated it massively in "The Fall of the House of Usher." ... ...

  • Word Count: 1692
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. The Fall of the House of Usher

The Doom of Usher's House The human mind naturally receives images of the frightening or even appalling. In the tale "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator is brought into an eerie world "DURING the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn" (204). ... This sense of doom shows throughout the House of Usher, the interior and exterior of the house, the landscape surrounding the mansion, and the strange tempestuous atmosphere of the house. The House of Usher generates a sense of doom by its appearance as the narrator approaches. ... The House of Us...

  • Word Count: 769
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

8. The House of Usher

Edgar Allan Poe The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales? ... He was invited by Usher to visit him at the House of Usher due to Roderick's poor mental state. Plot/Summary: This short story begins with the narrator approaching the House of Usher after being requested to visit by his boyhood friend, Roderick Usher. ... The narrator runs away from the House. ... Then the House of Usher splits in two, falls to the ground, and is covered up by the moat....

  • Word Count: 429
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

9. The Fall Of The House Of Usher: Setting

In the short story, "The Fall of the House of Usher," by Edgar Allen Poe, setting is used extensively to do many things. ... For example, Usher's house, its windows, bricks, and dungeon are all used to make a dismal atmosphere. ... It is a small crack in "The House of Usher" which the narrator defines as "both the family and the family mansion." ... From far away, no one knows that the House of Usher is in despair. ... Usher's house itself is a symbol for Usher. ...

  • Word Count: 709
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

10. Analysis: The Fall Of The House Of Usher

The Fall of the House of Usher was printed in his 1840 edition of Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque - a term also used in that specific story. ... The Arabesque category - which the Fall of the House of Usher is part of - contained stories that involve very few people(Roderick, Madeline and the Narrator), strange ideas and plot twists; and are set in abstract locations(The decaying House of Usher). ... But the one of the most important giveaways however is the setting; The House of Usher. ... This connection also continues when one is told that when people speak of the House of Usher the...

  • Word Count: 756
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

Got a writing question? Ask our professional writer!
Submit My Question