Thoughts About "The Fall of the House of Usher"

Thoughts About "The Fall of the House of Usher"

While reading "The Fall of the House of Usher", we noticed that a gothic feeling was the most important theme throughout this short story. But why and what is the purpose for this style of writing? In gothic writing and stories, the reader needs to feel as though there is a sense of terror on every page. The house makes the narrator feel as though he has no where to go and makes him feel like there is an evil presence. There are hidden doors, the feeling of ghosts, and mysterious sickness that makes this reading pretty vague. Something is going on in this house, but nobody really knows. In all gothic stories, you can't find the answer. Relating to the class discussion, a gothic story has three elements that make it a gothic story; what's inside, what's outside, and what separates them. The narrator is mysteriously trapped by the lure of Roderick's attraction and he cannot escape until the house of Usher completely collapses.

From the beginning of the reading, you can tell that this house is something that really affects ones mind. Its dark, dull, and soundless. The narrator wants the reader to feel as though he is right there with him and to feel how horrifying this house is something out of a horror film. All alone coming up to the house, you can tell that this reading is somewhat of a depressing reading. He sets the tone by using such depressing words such as dull, dreary, decayed trees, sinking, a sickening of the heart and really explaining the overall appearance of the house.

A passage from the reading that I found interesting and quite wonderful in describing this house was when the narrator says "I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow. An air of stern, deep, and irredeemable gloom hung over and pervaded all." This passage comes when the narrator is all by himself in a room showing how isolation is something that nobody enjoys. It messes with people's minds and frightens people. I think that the reason why Roderick never went and checked out what the sound was (when Madeline was making noises), is because he was terrified of what he would actually see. He waited 8 days in fear that his sister was alive. In an isolated, terrifying house, noises start putting fear into ones self.

Death, isolation, and horror are definitely the biggest themes to look at when reading this great night time story.