The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe
The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe uses fear and tension to captivate readers. He also makes an effort to dissuade his audience from succumbing to dread. Poe uses a number of scenes that are distinguished by aspects of the plot, location, themes, as well as the vivid description of the characters, to arouse a sense of dread in his audience. The author achieves his goal by using the background synopsis to set the proper scene. Additionally, the language and symbolism he uses are expertly crafted to serve his needs and produce the intended results. In his work, the author uses numerous literary devices such as eerie parallelism and morbid imagery. As he begins his piece of literature, Poe starts with a story placing the raconteur at the front of Roderick Usher’s decrepit, and decaying mansion. Poe paints a picture of a house which is more than just being old, lonely and dirty. Detailed features of the home are portrayed with the image being deteriorated with the layers upon layers of old age representing the house. As a result, the audience has an idea of a home with an atmosphere spreading chills and thrills of gloom and death.
The Haunting Atmosphere of the House
The house is full of cracks and dead trees making the surrounding less sturdy while the strange light, mist, and thunder create a scary feeling to the audience. Other than being depressed. Roderick, as portrayed by the author, is a hypochondriac with an appearance that is scary. Thus, this creates anxiety and curiosity to the audience. Also, the writer uses the character of Madeline who is cataleptic who dies as a result of her state. However, the climax of the piece is when she comes back to life. Poe uses rising events, creating conflicts, reaching a climax, and finally resolution in creating a worthy plot which adequately builds suspense to the audience throughout the piece of art.
