The Fall of the House of Usher Analysis

A detailed Summary of The Fall of the House of Usher Analysis


The mind is a complicated thing. Not many stories are able to portray this in such an interesting manner as in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher". The haunting story of a man and his sister, living in the old family mansion. But as all should know, much symbolism can be found in most of Poe's works. "The Fall of the House of Usher" is no exception.

First of all, we have the symbolisme of Roderick Ushers mind and the House of Usher coinciding. Both can be seem as one and the same.

Residing in the house are both Roderick and his sister, Madeline. What can be translated from this is the age old hypothesis, the mind is divided in two parts: a male or rational part, and a female or emotionnal part. In Usher's mind, we can see that he has problems expressing his emotions, represented as Madeline's unknown sickness.

When she finally dies, Roderick puts her away in an old dungeon t'ill she is to be buried. One could say that Usher is trying to forget about his emotions by throwing that part of his mind into the basement, or subconcious. He knows that if he can survive a fortnight without this emotional part in him, he'll be able to live without it fo


"The Fall of the House of Usher". A good story by itself. An even better story if analysed correctly. The story of a man loosing his mind has rarely been presented so imaginatively. But this was only from one point of view. What other meanings can be pulled from this story? Perhaps it is the inner mind of a schitzophrenic, or even a legend told to scare little boys from hurting there sisters. They may just come back! Either way, This work is still worth reading.

Near the end of the work, the narrator decides to tell Roderick a story to calm his soul and give him stregnth. During this time, Roderick is a nervous, paranoid wreck. He keeps saying that his sister will come back.

Another symbol is the one of the fortnight. A fortnight is 14 days, or half a moon cycle. The full moon can be seen as another symbol for the unconcious mind or even the dark side in us all. Whereas a new moon represents the concious or good side in us all.

Along with the swampy pool, the exterior of the house also plays a symbolic role in this story. The land around the house has a lack of colour and healthy vegetation. This can be said to represent Usher's surroundings. They are dark, plagued and hopeless. Perhaps these surroundings are the source of his depression, or perhaps only a part of it.

From afar, the house seems stable. Qu

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 895
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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