Essay on Figures of speech in The Fall of the House of Usher

The descriptions in Edgar Allan Poe’s story “The Fall of the House of Usher” are visual and can easily be adapted from words into mental images. Poe employs gothic imagery throughout the entire story using the narrators descriptions. He incorporates many examples of vivid descriptions but, he also in detail gives the reader background information. In the opening paragraphs of the story, Poe communicates to the audience of the Usher family’s history, “ that his very ancient family had been noted,”(7). Their importance to their community is because of their passion towards the arts. The story focuses on a narrator reuniting with his boyhood friend, Usher, at his mansion due to the crisis of his dying sister, Madeline. The narrator provides companionship

The Three Unique Characters of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher

“I must perish in this deplorable folly” (Poe par. 11). With this statement, Roderick Usher seems to be both accepting and sealing his fate. The “House of Usher” was once a mighty and well-respected family, but it has now dwindled down into almost nonexistence. Twins Roderick and Madeline are all that survive of this once proud race. A summons from Roderick to the unknown narrator of this story, a childhood friend of Roderick, sets the events in motion. He speaks of an illness and mental disorder which has become a great burden on him, and he wishes for the company of his dearest friend to help comfort and give “some alleviation of his malady” (Poe par. 2). As the narrator arrives at the family mansion, he is struck by the aura of “gloom”

In addition to the eerie happenings within the house contributing to the insanity of both the narrator and Usher, the phantasm of Madeline and the daily readings of Gothic literature begin to rapidly submerge the narrator in doubtful hallucinations and the questionability of his own sanity. Thus, The Fall of the House of Usher is a story that represents how the mind under influence performs, and how reason no longer becomes a mental aspect once the mental state begins to see things that may or may not be

In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Edgar Allen Poe challenges the reader to discover the role of fear. Poe’s creation gives off multiple feelings of apprehension; therefore making the true reality of his piece unclear. Set in a disturbing environment, Poe uses gruesome imagery and mentally unstable characters to bring out fear, and raises questions of fear’s ability to alter perception. When the narrator first approaches the House of Usher, he takes the time to observe all of the house’s features.

“But, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit”. In this particular line, Poe is foreshadowing the dissolution of their family structure. Nothing but pure terror and elements of the supernatural happen within the walls of the Usher home. The setting of Poe’s short story reflects the environment of the estate. “No portion of the masonry had fallen; and there appeared to be a wild inconsistency between its still perfect adaptation of parts, and the crumbling condition of the individual stones”.

Poe, like Hawthorne, sees the effects of solitude as detrimental to human goodness, in particular, human reason. He uses allegorical symbolism, especially with regards to the house itself, and nature in and around the house, to tell this tale of the individual’s self-destruction. First and foremost, The house of Usher, including the twins, represents a single consciousness, one individual who has suffered the consequences of living alone in nature for too long. This is presented in the way the house is described with human qualities. It is said to have “vacant eye-like windows” just like a human face.

The work of Edgar Allan Poe is notoriously morbid and terror-provoking. Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”, with its melancholically eerie tone, is undoubtedly a prime example of such writing. Much effort within the literary world has been devoted to the analysis and critique of Poe’s compositions. Among those to study and analyze Poe’s work is J.O. Bailey. Bailey’s argument concerning Poe’s underlying objective is valid and presented effectively in the article entitled “What Happens in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’”; but this short story can rationally be interpreted in alternative ways, thus suggesting Poe intends the piece to be more universally applicable than

Edgar Allan Poe intrigued many with his often irrational and pessimistic descriptions in his poetry and short stories. He repeatedly wrote about phantasmagoric houses, spirits or shadows, the immoderate consumption of alcohol and opium, and seemingly inhuman characters trapped in the most grotesque and gloomy settings one can possibly imagine. The first line of "The Fall of the House of Usher" is a prime example of the latter:

In Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” an unnamed narrator examines the fears of Roderick Usher to determine the cause of the “fall” in the “House of Usher.” The House of Usher has prevailed “insufferable gloom,” from a glance a strong sense of confinement presence itself. The only known family to live in this home has been the Usher’s, presenting a form of incest within the family. As Roderick copes with the loss of his twin sister and his struggle to combat his own mental illness, he writes to his past friend whom he hopes will help ease the agony. Roderick’s friend awaits the unexpected adventures the “House of Usher” has in store for him.

In the “Fall of the house of Usher”, Edgar Allan Poe delves into the relationship of twins, Madeline and Roderick Usher. Poe illustrates in this gothic that their relationship is unusual and can be described as twisted at times. The dynamic between the two is unsettling. The usher’s lives seem to revolve around each other and the house they live in. Though their mutual suffering of illness, should bring them closer Poe creates a tense connotation that separates them.

While the narrator is there, he experiences strange noises and occurrences. “The Fall of The House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe show’s that fear can take over people’s life. Firstly, there are multiple symbols in “The Fall of The House of Usher”. The narrator says, “...House of Usher an appellation which seemed to include, in the minds of the peasantry who used it, both the family and the family mansion” (Poe 476).

In Poe’s stories, love and death are often tied with a beautiful woman dying young, only to be excessively thought about. Poe suffered a traumatic event when his own wife passed, so the dying woman is a common concept in his work. In the Fall Of The House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, the phantasmagoric setting that is displayed by Poe gives the reader some insight on the mystery of the characters. Through his description the physical state of the mansion emerges into a representation of the mental state of the Usher family. The narrator is able to identify the eccentric affection and the sentience of the mansion which caused the madness in Roderick, which ultimately caused the Fall of The House of Usher.

In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Edgar Allen Poe cleverly used numerous literary devices to capture the attention of the reader while allowing them to awaken their imagination by introducing absurd characters, hinting at a twist on the story, and providing an effective climax. At the beginning of the story, Poe incorporated characterization into his story when the narrator of the story was presented. The unnamed narrator was hinted to be a faithful friend to Roderick Usher after receiving a letter about Roderick’s illness and not hesitating to visit his childhood friend. Upon the reader meeting Roderick Usher, Poe is direct in describing his abnormal behavior and his unhealthy mentality. By using characterization,

Edgar Allan Poe was a brilliant author of the gothic era. His works still are relevant to this day, 200 years later, and he his regarded to as one of the greatest gothic artists. His short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher” was a masterpiece of this time. Poe uses a gloomy tone throughout “The Fall of the House of Usher” as shown through his usage of setting and characterization.