The Fall of the House of Usher Analysis
The mind is a complicated thing. Not many stories are able to portray this in such an interesting manner as in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher". The haunting story of a man and his sister, living in the old family mansion. But as all should know, much symbolism can be found in most of Poe's works. "The Fall of the House of Usher" is no exception. First of all, we have the symbolisme of Roderick Ushers mind and the House of Usher coinciding. Both can be seem as one and the same. Residing in the house are both Roderick and his sister, Madeline. What can be translated from this is the age old hypothesis, the mind is divided in two parts: a male or rational part, and a female or emotionnal part. In Usher's mind, we can see that he has problems expressing his emotions, represented as Madeline's unknown sickness. When she finally dies, Roderick puts her away in an old dungeon t'ill she is to be buried. One could say that Usher is trying to forget about his emotions by throwing that part of his mind into the basement, or subconcious. He knows that if he can survive a fortnight without this emotional part in him, he'll be able to live without it
A fortnight is 14 days, or half a moon cycle. Another resemblance between Roderick and his house is how the hair on his forhead seems to match the web work of eaves along the houses facade. Madeline was locked away just at the beginning of the full moons half cycle. In other words, the one thing he wanted to get rid of comes back and puts an end to his already fragile mind. His pale and cadaverous features resemble the dark and cold look of the house. This symbolism is also played in the "real world". Basically, Usher's mind collapses right down the middle, just where the male and female parts of the mind are seperated. The exact momment where the shield falls to the floor, a knock is heard on the chambers door. The story of a man loosing his mind has rarely been presented so imaginatively. Another symbol is the one of the fortnight. He keeps saying that his sister will come back.
Common topics in this essay:
Basically Usher's,
House Usher,
Allan Poe,
Poe Amazoncom,
house usher,
Fall House,
fall house usher,
usher's mind,
fall house,
Edgar Allan,
Roderick Ushers,
edgar allan,
Poe's Fall,
Usher Edgar,
usher edgar allan,
falls floor,
poe's fall,
mind roderick's,
unconcious mind,
usher edgar,
edgar allan poe,
house usher edgar,
poe's fall house,
allan poe,
|
Acceptance Essays
