THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHERUSHER

BY CHRISTINE, ANGEL, JACOB, AND BEN BY CHRISTINE, ANGEL, JACOB, AND BEN

Atmosphere of the Opening Paragraph

• " I know not what it was- but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit."

• " There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart- an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture aught of the sublime"

• These quotes create a dark and chilly atmosphere. The location of the Usher house is remote. We can assume it was a far distance and secluded for it required the speaker to travel by horse.

Roderick Usher• "The now ghastly pallor of the skin,

and the now miraculous luster of the eye, above all things startled and even awed me. The silken hair, too, had been suffered to grow all unheeded, and as, in its wild gossamer texture, it floated rather than fell about the face, I could not, even with effort, connect its Arabesque expression with any idea of simple humanity."

• Roderick's malady is, "morbid acuteness of the senses; the most insipid food was alone endurable; he could wear certain garments of certain texture; the odors of all flowers were oppressive; his eyes were tortured by even a faint light; and there were but peculiar sounds, and these from stringed instruments, which did not inspire him with horror."

Questionable Terms

• Pallor: unhealthy pale appearance.

• Gossamer: refers to something as light and delicate.

• Insipid: lacking interest or being plain.

• Peculiar: strange, odd, or unusual.

• Goading: to provoke or annoy someone.

• Palpable: able to be touched or felt.

Roderick Usher's House• "I looked upon the scene before me- upon the

mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain- upon the bleak walls- upon the vacant eye-like windows- upon a few rank sedges- and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees- with an utter depression of soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveler upon opium- the bitter lapse into everyday life- the hideous dropping off of the veil."

• "Perhaps the eye of a scrutinizing observer might have discovered a barely perceptible fissure, which, extending from the roof of the building in front, made its way down the wall in a zig zag direction, until it became lost in the sullen waters of the tarn."

• The fissure in the house represents the relationship of the twins, Roderick and Madeline, in a cryptic way. These separate people come together to form one because they are dependent upon each other.

The Cause of Roderick's Issues

• The depressing house is partly responsible for his malady, but he is mostly afflicted by the health of his sister.

• "much of the peculiar gloom which thus afflicted him could be traced to a more natural and far more palpable origin- to the severe and long-continued illness- indeed to the evidently approaching dissolution- of a tenderly beloved sister- his sole companion for long years- his last and only relative on earth."

4.

What is the narrator's initial reaction to the sight of his friend Usher, and how does he feel about the prospect of cheering him up?

The narrator first felt bad and was amazed. He thinks that it's weird that Usher wants help despite the fact that they haven't talked in forever.

"I gazed upon him with a feeling of half pity, half awe" (Poe pg. 22)

"Although, as boys, we had been even intimate associates, yet I really knew little of my friend" (Poe pg. 20)

5.• How is Madeline described? What do we know

about her physical characteristics? Based on the events that occur in the story, what can we infer about her?

• Madeline is described in a mysterious way (no one is sure what is wrong with)(she is buried alive). She also has an illness that is not known. Looks a lot like Roderick, they are obviously twins. She was the one who made those creepy sounds.

• "We have put her living in the tomb" (Poe pg. 30)

• "The disease of lady Madeline had long baffled the skill of her physicians" (Poe pg. 23)

• "A striking similitude between the brother and sister" (Poe pg. 37)

• "I heard her first feeble movements in the hollow coffin" (Poe pg. 30)

6.• How does the house represent the Ushers?

Identify the physical characteristics of the house, and explain how the characteristics reflect the family, particularly Roderick.

• The house is described as creepy and gloomy and weird, this is greatly similar to Roderick and his sister. Roderick is pale and deathly just how the setting is lifeless (bleak walls, decayed trees, and vacant windows) Also the house collapses when Madeline and Roderick die, this is another tie between them and the house.

• "Upon the bleak walls- upon the vacant eye-like windows- upon a few rank sedges- and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees" (Poe pg. 19)

• "A sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit" (Poe pg. 19)

• "Bore him to the floor a corpse" and "sullenly and silently over the fragments of the house of Usher" both (Poe pg. 31)

6

The house represents the Ushers, because it describes the twins physical appearance as well as their relationship with each other.

Physically

"Upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain-upon the bleak walls-upon the vacant eye like windows-upon a few rank sedges- and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees- utter depression of the soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after- dream of the reveller upon opium- the bitter lapse into everyday life"

Okay....What Does That Mean?

Well, it describes the Usher twins. They are lacking exterior brilliance, they have a feeling of death or old age upon them, their eyes are blank or lacking that bright innocence that young people have, and lastly their souls are depressed and tired.

Relationship Between the Twins

" crumbling conditioned the individual stones"Their relationship is falling apart, however after it has fallen apart it is too heavy, meaning that they depend on one another, to go anywhere else, all that is left for them is a crumbled remains of their relationship.

7

• Doppelgänger- Evil twin

• Madeleine is just a reflection of Roderick's inner fears, wich makes Madeleine a mirror of Roderick.

Evidence "He conceived to be the nature of his malady....a mere nervous affection" " I must abandon life and reason together, in some struggle with....FEAR." " Lady Madeline passed through a remote portion of the apartment, and, without having noticed my presence, disappeared..my glance sought instinctively and eagerly the countenance of the brother- but he had buried his face in his hands"

Explain

Fear is a doppelgänger of Usher, in the form of his sister, it is a negative reflection of himself. The two top quotes show that he does have a problem with being afraid then the last quote is an example of when Usher is getting nervous, her presence in the room shows when he is nervous. This is why she does not notice the narrator, because she is not 100% real.

9.

Common Symbolism in The Fall of the House of UsherThe Black Tarn - The narrator when first approaching the house notices a back tarn in front of the house in which the house was reflected, much like the reflection pool in D.C. Throughout the story doubling and the concept of the doppelgänger is used. It is also shown in inanimate objects, this being one of those cases. All of the doubling is used to show the relationship of Roderick and Madeline.

Madeline's Disease and Death - Madeline's disease is thought to be unknown and mysterious and the doctors can not identify it or stop it. This is symbolizing that she as a character is mysterious. It is unclear that she even exists. Her death is also mysterious. She dies while neither of the men are present. Roderick wants to preserve her body under the house so the doctors will not investigate the body because of her abnormal diseases. When storing the coffin the two men look at the body one last time and the narrator sees that her cheeks are oddly rosy. Roderick does not care and puts her away behind an iron door. This is like how Roderick's similarity to her is the cause of his illness.

9. Continued

The Storm - The storm symbolizes a greater force at this time in the story. The storm occurs on the night when Madeline appears and kills Roderick. The storm adds a powerful energy and suspense, key to this point in the story.

Fungi - The fungi shows the destruction and decomposition, literally and symbolically, of the house of Usher. The sickness of Roderick Usher is causing the destruction of the house and family. The fungi shows this symbolically and literally.

9. Continued The Fissure - The fissure in the house is the crack that runs down the side of the house. This shows that the house is on the road to destruction. Before the narrator even arrives the house is already not in its original state.

Roderick and Madeline - Roderick Usher is in fear of his own fear, he has a strange connection to his "twin sister" who may or may not exist. He symbolizes the natural and more straightforward side of the odd double. Madeline on the other hand is the spiritual and mysterious side of the double. It is unclear if she even physically exists. Roderick was good friends with the narrator yet he had no knowledge of the fact Roderick had a twin sister. Also, the narrator only sees Madeline when Roderick talks about her, so Madeline could just be a figment of both of the men's minds. The twins are a great example of the gothic idea of the doppelgänger.

The Fall of The House - The fall of the house into the black tarn is literally the crumbling of the house into the lucid black water. The symbolic interpretation of this event is the destruction of the family of Usher. Roderick said that he and his sister were the last to carry the family name. So in the death of both of them the family was destroyed, the last of the family of Usher is gone.