Free Essays on The Fall of the House Of Usher

Poe uses the imagery and the life-like characteristics of an otherwise decaying house as a device for giving the house a supernatural atmosphere. For example, from the very beginning of the story, the reader can tell that there is something unusual and almost supernatural about the building. As the narrator approaches the home of his long-time friend, Roderick Usher, he refers to the house as the â€Å"melancholy House of Usher†(1508). Upon looking at the building, he even describes the feeling he has as â€Å"a sense of insufferable gloom pervading my spirit†(1508). The windows appear to be â€Å"vacant,† and â€Å"eye-like† and the narrator goes on to observe the â€Å"rank sedges,† and the â€Å"black and lurid tarn,†(1509) in which he sees the reflection of the house. He later says, â€Å"when I again uplifted my eyes to the house itself, from its image in the pool, there grew a strange fancy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (1509). This statement indicates that perhaps the house does indeed have supernatural characteristic. The narrator ! observes the details of the house once more and finds that the house has fungi growing all over it and the masonry of the building is decaying. He says, â€Å" there appeared to be a wild inconsistency between its still perfect adaptation of parts, and the utterly porous, and evidently decayed condition of the individual stones†(1510). This observation suggests that perhaps something supernatural is holding the house intact; otherwise it would have fallen to the ground long ago. Upon entering the house, the narrator sees the inside of the house as well as the odd behavior and personality of its inhabitants and is increasingly convinced that the house has some supernatural effect on those who live there. Upon meeting Usher, the narrator remarks, â€Å"†¦the physique of the gray walls and the turrets, and of the dim tarn into which they all looked down, had at length, brought about upon the morale of his existence† (1512). The narrat... Free Essays on The Fall of the House of Usher Free Essays on 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 â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator is brought into an eerie world â€Å"DURING the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn† (204). The setting of this world inspires devastation for Roderick Usher and his twin sister, Madeline. 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. â€Å"The vacant and eye-like windows† of the manor first give the impression that the house is a large face. A minute fungus overspreads the whole exterior, hanging like web-work from the attic. The narrator can also see a barely distinguishable crack extending from the roof down into the pond. As the narrator crosses the threshold of the house into the gothic archway, he sees carvings on the ceiling, gloomy tapestries hanging on the walls, â€Å"ebon blackness of the floors, and large phantasmagoric armorial trophies. The rooms are very large and lofty, the general furniture profuse, comfortless, antique, and dilapidated† (205). Paintings hanging on the walls give the narrator a shudder every time he views the depressive scenarios. There is also a vault at a great depth below the mansion, a portion of the vaults floor and the whole interior of the long archway are sheathed with copper, the chamber is very small, damp, and entirely without means of admission for light. Even the door is made of massive iron and placed on great hinges that grind and make an awful noise as the narrator and Roderick open it. The landscape around the mansion is doomed, which leads to the land being full of sadness and decay. The house appears on a landscape of â€Å"a few rank sedges and u... Free Essays on The Fall Of The House Of Usher Poe uses the imagery and the life-like characteristics of an otherwise decaying house as a device for giving the house a supernatural atmosphere. For example, from the very beginning of the story, the reader can tell that there is something unusual and almost supernatural about the building. As the narrator approaches the home of his long-time friend, Roderick Usher, he refers to the house as the â€Å"melancholy House of Usher†(1508). Upon looking at the building, he even describes the feeling he has as â€Å"a sense of insufferable gloom pervading my spirit†(1508). The windows appear to be â€Å"vacant,† and â€Å"eye-like† and the narrator goes on to observe the â€Å"rank sedges,† and the â€Å"black and lurid tarn,†(1509) in which he sees the reflection of the house. He later says, â€Å"when I again uplifted my eyes to the house itself, from its image in the pool, there grew a strange fancy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (1509). This statement indicates that perhaps the house does indeed have supernatural characteristic. The narrator ! observes the details of the house once more and finds that the house has fungi growing all over it and the masonry of the building is decaying. He says, â€Å" there appeared to be a wild inconsistency between its still perfect adaptation of parts, and the utterly porous, and evidently decayed condition of the individual stones†(1510). This observation suggests that perhaps something supernatural is holding the house intact; otherwise it would have fallen to the ground long ago. Upon entering the house, the narrator sees the inside of the house as well as the odd behavior and personality of its inhabitants and is increasingly convinced that the house has some supernatural effect on those who live there. Upon meeting Usher, the narrator remarks, â€Å"†¦the physique of the gray walls and the turrets, and of the dim tarn into which they all looked down, had at length, brought about upon the morale of his existence† (1512). The narrat... Free Essays on The Fall of the House Of Usher One of the core themes of the short story, â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher†, is that of the nature of the house itself. The manner it is described and the way it is so puzzling. Another main theme of this tale is the nature of the people that reside in the dwelling. They are described in nearly the same manner all through the narrative. In that way, they have several things in common with one other. What is clearly similar about the way all these things are refered to is the sense of a bad feeling, of dread, showing how bad things are for the people and the house. These similarities are laid out extremely well in the story and I believe they are meant be strongly considered when reading it. At the start of the tale there is a very negative feeling being connected to the appearance of the house. Poe especially uses a couple of tactics to try and make you feel negatively about the house. He used phrases such as: â€Å"insufferable gloom,† â€Å"vacant,† â€Å"black and lurid,† and the â€Å"rank sedges.† These are obviously meant to convey a bad connotation to the house. Poe writes that the house has a â€Å"wild inconsistency† and describes that each individual stone is starting to decay and fall apart. This suggests that the house has many problems that could possibly lead to the destruction of a house. Its hard to pick up this as foreshadowing, but as the reader continues the story it becomes clearer and clearer. The house has a kind of gothic feeling to it. Another common word used in describing the house is ghostly. The story is lined with phrases such as, â€Å"through many dark and intricate passages† and â€Å"ebon blackn ess† which also set the sense of darkness. They all set up the idea that some frightful event is going to take place soon. These devices, along with a some others, help to connect the house to Roderick and Lady Madeline. When the speaker first sees Roderick after a long interval of time, he remarks that he resemb...