Fall of the House of Usher

A detailed Summary of Fall of the House of Usher


"It was the apparent heart sent with the request - which allowed me no room for hesitation; and I accordingly obeyed forthwith what I still considered a very singular summons (91)." In the short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" there were three main characters. The narrator was an unnamed fellow from Roderick's boyhood. Roderick was a mentally ill person with a twin sister named Madeline, who suffered from a condition that gradually kills the body. The two shared an uncanny bond which later becomes apparent as though they are two people which share their mind and body with the other. As one body died the other's mind died because the mind cannot live without the senses of the body. In the short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" Edgar Allen Poe uses style, point of view and theme to change the mood of the story and explore the inner workings of the human imagination but, at the same time caution the reader about the destructive dangers within.

In "The Fall of the House of Usher" Edgar Allen Poe uses the powe


r of the human imagination to create a mood of gloom and despair. When fantasy suppresses reality and the physical self, as in Roderick's case, what results is madness and mental death. Madeline's return and actual death reunites the twin natures of their single being, claiming Roderick as a "victim to terrors that he anticipated." The true focus of this story is the narrator's reaction to these strange events. "Even to look into the dark imagination where fantasy becomes reality is to evoke madness (Tom Clancy)." That is why Roderick twice called the narrator "Madman" in the final scene. The narrator already went to the hell of his mind and was able to escape from it and turns to see the House of Usher tumble into the abyss with the last of the clan.

During the course of the story the intellect (Roderick) tries to detach himself from his more physically oriented twin Madeline. This can be seen by the abrasions to his senses and the premature entombment of his twin sister. Living without Madeline (without the senses), Roderick's condition begin

Some common words found in the essay are:
Living Madeline, House Usher, Allen Poe, Clancy Roderick, house usher, fall house, Fall House, fall house usher, usher edgar allen, Usher Edgar, tarn narrator flees, Edgar Allen, deep dank tarn, narrator flees, deep dank, tarn narrator, story fall house, twin sister, senses body, story fall, narrator madman, fantasy reality,

Approximate Word count = 708
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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