House of Usher Paper
Critical Review of The Fall of the House of Usher Fear is a basic element of human emotion that is caused by the expectation or realization of danger. The existence of fear is essential for establishing our beliefs and the actions we take throughout our lives. Edgar Allen Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher is a detailed account of Roderick Usher, the proprietor of the House of Usher, and the dementia and disintegration of his mental state, through the eyes of a nameless child hood friend. Poe suggests in this story that the denial of our fears can lead to madness and insanity. The story begins on one "...dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year...."(264) From the very beginning, the reader, as a result of Poe's imagery, is aware of a sense of death and decay. Even the narrator, Roderick's childhood companion, describes "a sense of insufferable gloom [which] pervaded [his] spirit"(264) as he approached the House of Usher. The term "House of Usher" refers not only to the crumbling mansion but also to the remaining family members who live within. The rotting mansion, mysterious illnesses, strange sounds at night, and Madeline being buried alive creates an atmosphere of fear and danger. This atmosphere is essent
Fear is believed to be a bodily response that is designed to send us away from danger into a less threatening place. The narrator is a boyhood companion of Roderick Usher. " (268) This condition, related to his nervous agitation in all his manors, showed how deranged he really was. "His action was alternately vivacious and sullen. [I]t was the apparent heart that went with his request --which allowed me no room for hesitation. [T]here appeared to be a wild inconsistency between its still perfect adaptation of parts, and the crumbling condition of the individual stones. " (278) The words the author uses in the story projects a dark image of decay and death. When fantasy suppresses reality and the physical world, as in Roderick's case, what results is madness and death. "(274) In the end, the narrator escapes the house's spell as the last two remaining descendants of the Usher family perish and are buried under the house's ruins. His voice varied rapidly from a tremulous indecision.
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