The Fall of the House of Usher - Literary Analysis Essay

Introduction

"The Fall of the House of Usher" refers to the short story created by Edgar Poe in 1839. The story revolves around the encounters of Roderick, his twin sister Madeline and their boyhood friend. The two siblings live in a dull and haunted house affected by supernatural events. The story takes an angle of a gothic tale as it possesses quintessential elements of such stories including living in a haunted home, the development of a mysterious sickness, as well as some characters possessing double personalities. In general, Poe, in the story, examines the overall theme of familial and friendly ties in a traditional setting. He farther explores other themes such as madness, superstition and supernatural, artistic elements, and fear and imagination. A critical analysis of these themes, the characters and the setting of the story reveals that there are various elements of comparison of the story and the contemporary society. Therefore, the paper offers a comparison of the story with society today based on the numerous aspects presented in the story.

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Mental illnesses and madness is a central component of the story. The narrator presents Roderick and Madeline as siblings who have severe mental conditions as a result of the unexplainable things happening around their lives (Poe). Madness has been a common phenomenon in many generations of Roderick's family. The two siblings have been living in a haunted house, revealing the extreme mental struggles that they have been going through. The narrator states that the situation has existed in the family for generations with only a single member of the family surviving. Through the theme of madness and mental health, readers get to understand the sufferings that the two siblings undergo. One of the most probable cause for the madness existing in the family is the extended trends of incest in the family. The family for generations has been living in isolation and cut off from the rest of the world. There is a high possibility of incest tradition amongst the members of the family, which seems to be the direct cause of the mental health issues in the family.

The twisted life of the siblings as a result of mental health relates closely to the present-day world. Mental health is a common issue in contemporary living with people suffering from brain disorder caused by many factors. Scientific studies have determined a correlation between incest and psychiatric and mental health issues. Today, children born out of incest relationships tend to suffer numerous mental health disorders (Pilgrim 310). Therefore, the mental health problems haunting the family relates to the situation in the present world. The story seems to have a lot of exaggerations and fictitious elements when addressing the issue of mental health that Roderick and Madeline suffer from. However, the same situation is present in the world today with drug abuse being the most common cause of mental health challenges in society today. The Usher family lineage in the story has a history of mental health and suffering from insanity. The trend has been passed on from one generation to another till it gets to Roderick and her sister Madeline. Lunacy and mental health have been the primary challenge for the Ushers, and it is the ultimate cause of their death. From this, readers learn that the insanity that reigns in the family is hereditary. The same case is valid in today's world. Children today have suffered from anxiety, stress and general mental disorder inherited from parents (Pilgrim 316). Therefore, the theme of insanity and mental health which was a significant challenge for the Ushers is still a considerable challenge in many families in the world today.

The supernatural events and superstition is another theme of the story. The narrator gives a detailed and vivid description of the Usher's home environment in a way that denotes a high level of superstition (Poe). The narrator is superstitious by stating that the environment around the User's house was dull, had lots of darkness, and it was soundless. He farther explains that the inside of the house was equally dull with no life as the stones were disintegrating into pieces. Supernatural events seem to be in action right from the beginning of the story to the end. The generational suffering of the Ushers could be as a result of the actions of supernatural events. Additionally, the Roderick states that Madeline suffers from an uncommon and unknown disease that he refers to as catalepsy. At the time of the setting of the story, the condition could have been as a result of supernatural events. Other forms of paranormal phenomena from the story include the supposed resurrection of Madeline after her burial. The narrator portrays this resurrection in a more superstitious and supernatural manner. Madeline comes back to life and strikes his brother to death.

Superstition and supernatural events presented in the story relates to events in the present world in numerous ways. Superstition is eminent and exists amongst people, yet most people are unconscious about it. The most common form of superstition today is responding to a sneeze by the words like "bless you" so that the "devil" may not steal the soul of the person that sneezes. In the realm of construction, people fail to include the 13th floor in a building but instead use a different tag like 14a or 14b. Number 13 is usually associated with a bad omen. Just like in the story, the belief of the existence of a supernatural being and supernatural forces acting and affecting people's life is common in today's society. People observe certain rituals and religious beliefs as a result of superstition. For instance, there are places in Peru where people believes in the use of certain herbs for cleansing and establishing contacts with the supreme beings and the deities. Additionally, people in most parts of Africa, especially West Africa, believe in supernatural events and superstition as part of their lives.

The exaggeration of superstition and supernatural events in the story is entirely on a whole new level. In the world today, scientific studies are vital to the understanding of everything happening to the world today (Conway 214-216). The story, to some point, seems to acknowledge the existence of science and scientific studies. Roderick decides to bury her sister in their house since he was superstitious and wanted to maintain the connection with the sister even after her death. Additionally, he fears that burying her sister outside the home would attract the attention of the doctors and scientists who would exhume the remains to study the strange illness. Therefore, although the story inclines more on the supernatural and superstitious angle, there are some aspects of science and scientific study in the story. Nonetheless, superstition on both the story and the present-day world seems to bring fear and anxiety amongst people. Everything that happens in the world today must adhere to the scientific explanation using facts and figures (Conway 218). Researchers and scientists explain the causes of uncommon outbreaks around the globe today, unlike in the story where the purpose of cataleptic is believed to be supernatural.

Imagination, fear and death are vital in understanding the story. Poe uses fantasies to speak the minds and actions of the characters (Poe). The vivid description that the narrator provides about the Usher's home and its environment makes it possible for readers to resonate with the environment. The description of this environment instils fear to the readers. It also helps in connecting the mental unrest and the anxiety that the two siblings have to endure while living in this haunted home. Roderick and his sister lose their mind as a result of fear the surrounds their home. The fear results from superstition and supernatural events surrounding their lives. Death and sadness ultimately set in the family leading to the fall of the family.

Fear, in the story, is the direct cause of the trouble that the Usher's face. They suffer mental health issues as a result of restlessness and mental struggles, trying to cope with the events happening in their lives. The effects of fear and spiritual battles include changes in the physical looks of Roderick, deteriorating health condition of Madeline, and ultimately her death. The narrator describes Roderick as having a paler color compared to the way he looked. However, the story takes a somewhat fictitious turn as it fails to explain the cause of fear in the house explicitly. Some of the elements causing fear in the story include the strange illness that Madeline suffers from, her death, and the haunting noises outside. The aspects of fear presented in the story relate to the encounters in today's lives. Fear of strange diseases today like the outbreak of coronavirus has the same effect of tension, distress, anxiety and insanity amongst people. Just like in the story, there are people today who fear natural phenomena such as thunder and storms. The sounds produced by such atmospheric changes causes fear both in children and adult. Death of a family member also causes fear, sadness and grief to people in the present world. As a consolation and mitigation efforts to relieve stress, some people today listen to music or read books similar to what the narrator does for Roderick.

There are several striking differences between the imagination, fear and death presented in the story and the experiences in the real-world today. In the story, the imaginations of Roderick, Madeline and the narrator all focus on the supernatural and superstition elements. On the contrary, the imaginations of people in the world today focus on scientific innovations. People today do not pay much attention to the superstitious imaginations. Scientific studies and explanation today surpass the imaginations of supernatural experiences and encounters. In the story, the cause of fear is the things that are uncommon and unexplainable through scientific analysis. Therefore, the events in the story are different in today's living as people fear the things that are scientifically proven to be dangerous in life. The characters in the story approach death in a lighter way than what people in the world today do. Roderick and the narrator live with Madeline who suffers from a strange illness without because the disease might be contagious. After the death of Madeline, the two, Roderick and the narrator decides to bury her without making any formal notification to the authorities. In the world today, it is a criminal offense in most nations to bury the dead without official notification of the authorities and giving medical examinations a chance to look into the cause of death.

Conclusion

Conclusively, "The Fall of the House of Usher" explores the predicaments and sufferings of two siblings, Roderick and Madeline. The narrator, who is Roderick's boyhood friend and who comes to be with him during these suffering moments explains the twisted nature of the events. The story focuses on the elements of anxiety, stress and mental illnesses, superstition and supernatural as well as imagination, fear and death. All these elements have a connection in different ways. The items or themes from the story are vital in understanding the story and drawing a comparison between the story and its setting and the present-day world. For example, mental health, which is the common theme in the story relates closely to the present-day world. Some of the ways through which the two connects include the causes of mental health and the effects of mental health disorders in the two scenarios. However, there are some differences between mental health in the story and the case in contemporary life. Superstition and supernatural events also form a basis for comparison of the setting...