They give the reader an insight into the declining mental and physical state of both Roderick and the house, which are both vessels for the story. The characters are round deep entities within the story and develop all the way through. Poe makes use of both direct and indirect characterisation by telling the reader what's happening and describing in acute detail. He also uses the characters feelings and emotions to describe what's happening. .
The story's atmosphere is used a great deal to set the tone of the story "during the whole dark and soundless day in autumn of the year when the clouds hung oppressively in the heavens ." He describes the surroundings in such detail that the reader takes time to picture the area and really examine the details he so carefully puts in. Poe uses the feeling of the characters in conjunction with the details such as the weather. Roderick is a despairing and tormented man, which echoes throughout the description of both the surrounding countryside and the house. From the very beginning the reader is aware of a sense of death and morbid anxiety. .
The use of inner conflict is also expanded upon and by incorporating this into his story creates an interest in the reader to explore deeper into the tale.
This particular story does not use the typical, first person point of view where the protagonist tells a personal account of a crime that he or she has committed. Instead, the narrator is a character of whom we know very little, who acts like a participant/observer. It is easy for the reader to become "the friend" in Poe's story as both the narrator and the reader invite "madness" as they are drawn into the underworld of the mind where fantasy becomes reality. Twice near the end of the story, Roderick calls the narrator "Madman!" However, the narrator escapes, to watch both the tenants and the house of Usher disappear into the tarn, an underworld which is their true home.
