The Fall of the House of Usher
The Fall of the House of Usher is another short story written by Edgar Allen Poe. The Fall of the House of Usher is about a narrator who goes visit his ill friend Roderick Usher, but with unexpected twists. Again the main character remains nameless. Also in this story he uses the style of Gothicism.
“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of evening drew on, within a view of the melancholy House of Usher.”
Edgar Allen Poe uses such words as dull, dark, low, dreary, and melancholy. These words are often seen or link to negativity or evil, thus a trait of Gothicism. The choice of time he also chooses affects the tone of the story. He chooses autumn and evening. The season of autumn is often link to Hallows Eve a time when supposedly ghosts come out and played. He also chooses evening, which is often also seen as the time when evil spirits come out, thus people prefer to stay at home. These feeling and representation are all form of Gothicism. The house itself in The Fall of the House of Usher seems to represent the definition and the theme of Gothicism. Romanism focuses on the rosy and positive side of life, but Gothicism is the pure opposite of Romanism. Gothicism focuses on the more negative and darker side of life. Edgar Allen Poe is an expert on such.
“I looked upon the scene before me—upon the mere house, and upon the simple landscapes features of the domain—upon the blank walls—upon the vacant eye-like windows—upon a few rank sedges—an upon a few white trunks of decayed trees—with an utter depression of soul which I can compare no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveller upon opium—the bitter lapse into every-day life—the hideous dropping of the veil.”
Edgar Allen Poe uses a lot of detail in describing the house of Usher. He also goes into great detail in describing the surroundings of the house of Usher. He uses the word “simple” and “few white trunks of decayed tress” to describe the surroundings of the house. The word emphasizes that the house is all by itself and that there isn’t probably any other house nearby. He also uses the word “decayed” to describe the trees, thus emphasizing the lifeless atmosphere of the hose. He uses words such as “vacant”, “blank”, and “few”. Those words are often used to describe an empty place, thus again emphasizing the lifeless atmosphere of the house. These traits are also all traits of Gothicism.
“It was not a mystery all-insoluble; nor could I grapple with the shadowy fancies that crowded conclusions, that while, beyond doubt, there are combinations of very simple natural objects…”
The choices of words that he uses are mystery, shadowy, and crowded conclusion. All of this words are somewhat related because they are often link to describe the unknown. That is what the narrator tries to emphasize of what he encounters at the house of Usher. He doesn’t know what to expect from such a house. So his view of the house is that he is afraid of what he might encounter in there.