Poe took up alcoholism as a method of consoling himself for the hardships he had in the working world. During this time, Poe wrote a few of his best works, "The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Gold Bug", and "Ligeia". His gloomy life took another turn for the worse as Virginia, his cousin with whom he lived with, died. Nevertheless, Poe continued writing and completed works such as "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Pit and the Pendulum". When his life finally took a turn north when he became engaged with his fiancee, he was found dead in a street of Baltimore and was declared dead due to the congestion of the brain. His life was obviously not a wonderful one; and this dreariness was the push towards many of his negative works, which include death and the loss of people close to the main character (www.island-of-freedom.com/POE.HTM).

             In "The Fall of the House of Usher, " Roderick, a sickly man, and his sister, Madeline, live in a mansion that their family has lived in for many years. They are both terminally ill since they were conceived due to incest. With this knowledge, Roderick calls on his best friend who remains nameless throughout the tale. Upon arrival, his friend consoles him reading him stories and other activities to occupy Roderick"s mind. After a time, Madeline dies and is buried in an outdoor tomb. One night, while Roderick"s friend is reading him a story a mysterious sound is heard from within the mansion. The two are terribly frightened and panic as a result. Finally, the ghost of Madeline appears in the doorway and claims the life of Roderick. The friend flees from the mansion out of sheer fear and leaves the mansion. While riding away on his horse he looks back to find that the mansion had exploded and crumbled to the ground (Poe 244-268).

             It is possible that the personality of Roderick is in some way related Edgar Allan Poe"s.