Edgar Allen Poe: Single Effect of Horror
Creating the "Single Effect" of Horror "...in the whole composition there should be no word written, of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one preestablished design." Edgar Allan Poe said this statement when explaining the meaning of the single effect of horror. The short story entitled, "The Fall of the House of Usher," reflects Poe's ideas on how to accomplish this. He revels his tremendous effort to do this by choosing each word carefully to effect the reader. Changes in either mood or setting can completely change around the story so making decisions on which words to use is significant. Poe uses these key certain literary elements, setting, plot, and mood, to create this "single effect" of horror.
He wants to effect the reader in every way possible. The house seems to emotionally hurt him, for it seemed as though he was entering another world full of dullness and spookiness. The narrator explains the Usher mansion having "an atmosphere, which had no affinity with the air of heaven. He sticks with this mood throughout the story keeping it consistent. His word choice is another contribution towards this also. Another technique Poe uses to create this "single effect" of horror by the mood heportrays. ting this unpleasant picture inside the reader's head as he describes the atmosphere. Also, the generations seem to be diseased and unable to produce offspring which portrays an unstable environment effecting the character's actions. One example of this is when the narrator is reacting to the appearance of the Costello 2house. the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. " (212) With the main character feeling uncomfortable, it causes the reader to feel that feeling as well. Although, if one of these key literary elements was missing the short story would have been much less effective on the reader. Poe continues to describe this dull and dreary day using descriptive words such as decayed, strange, peculiar, mystic, and Gothic to create that atmosphere. So as the plot thickens, Poe is acheiving his task in creating this story.
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