The Fall of The House of Usher
7. Poe chose to characterize Roderick and Madeline as twins, not simply as brother and sister because he wanted to show a strong bond between them, both physically (twins) but mentally as well. They are nearly the same person in mind and action.
When Madeline dies, Roderick fully loses his mind. Since they were twins, it explains how Roderick knew that his sister wasn't dead, although he wasn't sure.
3. Roderick Usher is not well. Parts of his affliction seem to have manifest themselves physically, but his illness is a mental one. Roderick is tormented by his own fear. He doesn’t fear any particular thing except he fears his own fear. And one day, he predicts, this affliction will kill him. Roderick is very talented as he paints and is deep in philosophy
2. The story does not describe the Usher family much, apart from Roderick and Madeleine. Given their physical features, they may probably be Jewish or may have Jewish blood. They were merely described as fair, with delicate features, with a talent for music, The history of the Usher family seemed to have died out, by natural cause or disease. They sound very secretive to be so far away from civilization.
10. Roderick dies of fear. He thinks he has killed Madeline, but then she shows up alive. When Madeline rushes to him, he falls to the floor like a corpse terrified to go on living.
11. If you look at a couple of the elements of Romanticism, it is easier to see how the story fits into the literary era.
- Gothic style-The Gothic style in America became popular during the Romantic time period. Several features of the Gothic style are a mysterious setting (the Usher house with its underground burial crypt), death or premature burial (Madeline ), and exotic elements (the story makes readers think of the house as a castle-type structure)
- Symbolism- In the story, the narrator mentioned a "fissure" in the foundation of the Usher house. This can be seen as a literal crack and also symbolic of the "cracks" in the Usher family.
1. The mood at the opening of the story had a sort of sad, sinister and soundless mood. Edgar Allen Poe created this mood using the words: Dull, dark, soundless, autumn, oppressively and melancholy.
8. Roderick buries his sister,Madeline, alive.
He is trying to cover up his insanity just as he is trying to end up Madeline’s life
4. In the poem,"The Haunted Palace" Poe used an elaborate metaphor, comparing a beautiful palace to a human head. At first the palace is beautiful and stable, then gradually it becomes demented and disorganized. "The Haunted Palace" has so much in common with "The Fall of the House of Usher." In that story, "The Haunted Palace" is turned into a song that the main character, Roderick Usher, sings to the narrator. "The Fall of the House of Usher" is also all about madness and illness and the collapse of buildings and people.
6. The appearance of both the interior and the exterior of the house, Usher's appearance and the condition of his mind seems to be very unstable. The crack in the wall would reflect his mind and the
decayed trees would reflect his appearance as dead and lifeless.
5. The narrator described the house in The Fall of The House of Usher as being "gothic" and slightly scary which gives the sense that the narrator has entered a realm that is "different" from ordinary.
9. The title "The Fall of the House of Usher" has many meanings. The word 'house' means the physically structure of the family line. So the title pretty much means the fall and the end of the house of Usher and the family line.