Setting the Mood: "The Fall of

In the short stories, "The Fall of the House of Usher," by Edgar Allen Poe, and “House Taken Over,” by Julio Cortazar, the setting is used to convey many things. In these stories the setting conveys ideas, effects, and images. It establishes a mood and predicts future events. Information about the characters is also given through the setting. Symbols are also used throughout to help understand the theme through the setting.

The authors use the setting to create an atmosphere in the reader's mind. The words are carefully chosen in every sentence to create a mood. For example, Usher's house, its windows, bricks, and dungeon are all used to make a depressing atmosphere. The "white trunks of decayed trees," the "black and lurid tarn," and the "vacant, eyelike windows" contribute to the collective atmosphere of despair. This is done with the words “black”, “lurid”, “decayed”, and “vacant”. The narrator says that the Usher mansion had "an atmosphere which had no affinity with the air of heaven." It was nowhere near being beautiful, holy, or clean. Poe used descriptive words such as “decayed”, “strange”, “mystic”, “gothic”, “pestilent”, “dull” and “sluggish” to create the atmosphere. In the “House taken Ov

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There is a sense of emptiness from the narrator as he grows older and parts of him are left behind which could be symbolized by the closing of the door in a part of the house. The narrator states, “Irene never bothered anyone. The reader gets a sense of his fear, “I hurled myself against the door before it was too late and shut it…luckily the key was on our side…I ran the great bolt into place, just to be safe. “I have to shut the door to the passage. The stones represent the individual people of the Usher family, and the entire mansion stands for the whole family. ”

Through the setting, Edgar Allan Poe and Julio Cortazar are able to predict events, establish an atmosphere, and reveal character traits. He played "long improvised dirges" on the guitar. ” The advance warning of things to come is presented when the narrator tells Irene about the experience. er” the description of the size of each room in the house gives the feeling of being lonely and empty. The reader also gets the feeling she is empty and lonely like the house, “…turned down two suitors for no particular reason…” Irene preferred to sit in the bedroom and knit. He lives in his own world he created.

Approximate Word count = 974
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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