rical phenomena not uncommon-- or it may be that they have their ghastly origin in the rank miasma of the tarn" (Poe 11). In both of these situations, it is through the narrator's sanity and his ability to reason that he keeps himself from losing his mind to the fear that surrounds him. However, as the events of the story progress, one can see that the narrator's grip on his sanity gradually deteriorates. In order to cheer up his friend, the narrator reads and paints with Roderick and even listens to ".the wild improvisations of his speaking guitar" (Poe 5). The narrator and Roderick both read books that are about death, the afterlife, and the supernatural, books that are ".in strict keeping with this character of phantasm" (Poe 9). As he and Roderick grow closer, the narrator realizes ".the futility of all attempt at cheering a mind from which darkness. poured forth upon all objects of the moral and physical universe, in one unceasing radiation of gloom" (Poe 5).
At times, the narrator sees Roderick ".gazing upon vacancy for long hours, in an attitude of the profoundest attention, as if listening to some imaginary sound" (Poe 10). Seeing his friend in this frightening state, the narrator feels "terrified" and "infected," and he feels that he is being brought closer to insanity by ".the wild influences of his [Roderick's] own fantastic yet impressive superstitions" (Poe 10). Because he is "Overpowered by an intense sentiment of horror, unaccountable yet endurable." (Poe 10), the narrator begins to experience the same insomnia that Roderick experiences, a sign that he is growing closer to losing his mind in the same way that Roderick already has. By living with Roderick, by learning about the horrors and terrible tragedies that he has to endure, and by being exposed to Roderick's strange fascinations and pursuits, the narrator is pushed closer to the edge of completely losing his sanity.
