Character Development in The Fall of the House of Usher by Poe - Book Report/Review Example

OUTLINE Edgar Allan Poe is the of the short story, ‘The Fall of the House of Usher.’ In it, he writes about the decay of a family, its membersand its mansion. The psychological effect it has on the members of the family is explains by their madness, and ultimate death. Poe presents a clear picture of how the horrible events in life are inter-linked through their lives and death. The story brings out the theme of duality with the characters, Roderick and Madeline, and the mansion and the narrator play significant roles in the work. Their characters undergo a lot of changes by the end of the story. The personification of the mansion implies a lot of things which is discussed in this paper along with the theme and character development in the story. The Fall of the House of Usher Edgar Allan Poe is considered as one of the unhappiest nineteenth century American poets, who wrote great horror tales and detective stories. His works can be included the gothic genre, and dealt mainly with deaths, unknown diseases and madness. The peculiarity of his themes arises from the mishaps in the life of Poe. He lost his parents at a very early age, his brother died when he was young and his only sister became insane later. “In his supernatural fiction Poe usually dealt with paranoia rooted in personal psychology, physical or mental enfeeblement, obsessions, the damnation of death, feverish fantasies, the cosmos as source of horror and inspiration…” (Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849)). ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ is one of his best short stories, in which he narrates the story of an insane man, Roderick, who buries his twin sister alive out of mere superstition only to find her returning after a few days. Roderick dies out of terror as the sister dies and falls onto him. In this paper, the theme, character development and symbolism in the story, is going to be discussed. The main theme in the story is the decline of an ancient incestuous family and the psychological effects it has on its members and probably the physical effect on the mansion. There are various interpretations about the theme in the story. The story narrates the theme of duality with the characterization of Roderick and his sister. It means that Roderick and Madeline, his sister are not two people, but one. The old mansion gets destroyed with the death of Roderick and his sister, giving a direct relation between the members of the family and the mansion. “An interpretation of the story is that the Usher House represents the main character’s psyche or personality. The fissures of the house being the flaws in the personality and the fall of the house representing, the destruction of the body and mind that is separated.”(Davidson). The author uses fear, death and freedom to convey the theme effectively. Roderick and his sister are the only living members of a family, in which everyone died from various kinds of illnesses, probably because of marriages within the family. Roderick and his sister are also ill. Roderick is both physically and mentally ill. He feels that the reason for his illness is the same evil in the house which killed his precedents too. His sister suffers from a kind of illness which the narrator describes as “a settled apathy, a gradual wasting away of the person, and frequent although transient affections of a partially cataleptical character…” (Poe, 5). He fears his death which he believes will soon come. This leads to mental abnormality, and gradually he begins to think that only death can give him freedom. He is fed up of the sufferings and wish for freedom. The story conveys the message that dreadful events occur in life not just due to a single reason, but for various reasons which are interlinked. The author narrates the reasons for the family’s decay through various factors. Firstly, Roderick himself hints that there is evil in the house which has affected the lives of the family’s earlier generations. Though the kind of evil is not clearly mentioned or specified, it can be guessed that the evil is probably incest. Some critics also add that the relation between the brother and sister was beyond an ordinary one like their ancestors. “…evidently approaching dissolution--of a tenderly beloved sister--his sole companion for long years--his last and only relative on earth.”( Poe, 4). Secondly, Roderick and his sister isolated themselves from others for many years. They have no friend to interact with. Even the narrator was cut off from him for years. They were ignorant about the new ideas and progress in the outside world. All these have resulted in the sickening of their souls. They also failed to adapt to the changes in life. They believed in outmoded traditions. In fact, both of them were mentally ill. They suffered from depression and anxiety. Besides, Roderick was highly superstitious, which made him behave and think abnormally. All these led to the eventual decay of the family and their death. Madeline’s death is seen from another angle by a few critics. They say the unnatural relation between the brother and sister would have made Roderick uneasy, making him want to get rid of her. It may be due to another reason too. It is conveyed that both of them looked alike. In this case, such a relation between them will mean self-love or narcissism. Roderick might have wanted to be independent, which forced him to bury her alive. Thus, her death can be considered as kind of murder. The story presents characters, which are highly dynamic. The main characters include, Roderick, his sister Madeline, and the narrator who becomes a part of the story with his visit to Roderick’s place. The author, develops his characters not suddenly, but slowly with the development in the story with the support of an exceptional narration. For the same reason, the changes that come to each one, does not seem unnatural or artificial in any way. The main character, Roderick is a member of an ancient family, which is known for their love for arts, and charity. At the beginning of the story, the narrator introduces him as a very impressive person, with good looks and sensibility. They hadn’t met for years, but he remembered Roderick’s charming personality. On reaching his mansion and seeing him, the narrator feels the heavy change that has come onto his childhood friend, which surprises him. “Surely, man had never before so terribly altered, in so brief a period, as had Roderick Usher!”(Poe, 3). His face is now gloomy and depressed, and hair uncut. The skin had become pale and his voice meek and dull. His actions seemed a bit inconsistent. As the narrator comes to know of the reason for his sadness, he tries to lighten hid heart with music, painting and reading. Soon, he understands that he fails in helping his friend. After a few days, Roderick’s sister dies and he becomes even more gloomy. He loses his sanity and behaves abnormally and absent-mindedly. He forgets his routines and roams without any object in the chambers. The narrator realizes that his condition is worse, but he is again helpless. By the end of the story, Roderick is completely insane. As he comes into the narrator’s room, he talks nonsense and opens a window. He does not listen to anything that the narrator says to relax him. His fear overpowers him and he awaits his death which he believed would soon come. At the end, he dies out of fear as his sister falls dead onto him. Roderick who was sensible earlier, is slowly captured by an unknown madness, which is increased by his superstitions and fears. As days go by, his gradual deterioration can be seen in the story. At the end, he reaches the peak of insanity, and fear causes his death. The narrator too is dynamic in the story. He is perfectly normal at the time when he reaches the mansion to help his friend relieve his pain. He speaks sensibly and tries to help Roderick by involving in arts and literature. With passing time, he understands his friend better. He comes to know of his pains, superstitions and fears. After the death of Madeline, there comes a slow change in him too. Like, Roderick, he understands that he has become more sensitive to sound and smell. He begins to hear even very small sounds, and have unknown thoughts in his mind. By the end, he fears the darkness, and silence of the room in which he sleeps. After Roderick comes to his room, he reads out a book to Roderick and hears the same sounds as is described in the book. As he realizes that he is becoming abnormal, Roderick claims the return of his sister. The sister and Roderick die at the end of the story at which the narrator runs out of the mansion in an effort to save his sanity and self. With close interaction with Roderick, even the narrator, who was perfectly alright, becomes insane. At the beginning of the story, the narrator says, “I was aware, however, that his very ancient family had been noted, time out of mind, for a peculiar sensibility of temperament, displaying itself, through long ages, in many works of exalted art, and manifested...” (Poe, 2). At this point, he has not reached the mansion. He is normal and thinks of Roderick as normal too, since they haven’t met for years. His impression about Roderick is that of a charming, good-looking man. This he comes to understand as wrong on reaching the mansion and seeing him. At the end of the story, the narrator tells Roderick that, "…These appearances, which bewilder you, are merely electrical phenomena not uncommon - or it may be that they have their ghastly origin in the rank miasma of the tarn. Let us close this casement; - the air is chilling and dangerous to your frame..."(Poe, 10). The change that has come about the narrator is evident. He understand that he is under the control of an unknown fear, which developed due to his close interaction with the insane Roderick. Roderick too, at this stage is totally mad, and talks to himself. He awaits his death, which soon occurred as he had predicted. Madeline, though does not speak anything throughout the length of the story, plays a significant role in it. She seems to be much like Roderick, reserved and insane, which keeps her away from the narrator. What is special about the story is that, at the end part of it, the sister, breaks open her tomb and iron bars and comes to the room in which they were sitting. She is depicted with masculine characteristics, whereas Roderick, who fears his death and behaves insanely, features feminine qualities. This is a contrast, purposefully brought out through the development of the story. The mansion too is an important character in the story. It represents the condition of the family and its members, with the kind of gloom and air of death that pervaded around the mansion. Later, with the death of the last members of the family, the fissure widens breaking the mansion into two, causing its destruction. Even the mansion in the story undergoes a drastic change with the development of the story. The story has a lot of symbolism in it. It conveys complex ideas and therefore the author has used symbols to maximize their effects. The mansion itself is a symbol of the ancient decayed family and its members. The author personifies the mansion, in order to compare the members with it. “I looked upon the scene before me--upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain--upon the bleak walls--upon the vacant eye-like windows…”( Poe, 1). The changes that has come to the family, has affected the mansion too. The decay of the mansion and the crack in it refers to the decay of the family and the illness of Roderick and Madeline which poses risk to their lives. The narrator says that he found inconsistencies between the parts of the building, which refers to the inconsistencies shown by Roderick. The air of gloom and death that prevailed in the surroundings, shows the gloom that had come over Roderick and the death which would soon come to the members of the family. This is an example of foreshadowing in the work, to show their future death. The fissure in the mansion, which leads to its destruction, is the illness that caused the death of its last members in the house. “The house itself seems to take on a vampire look as it is described through the narrator’s eyes as he first sees it.” (Bailey). The house undergoes gradual destruction like the last survivors of the ancient family, Roderick and Madeline. As their illness increases, dullness spreads in places around the mansion, showing the condition and suffering of its inhabitants. “The “sickening” decay of the house of Usher can be seen as a symbol of it’s owner, Roderick’s personal condition.” (Stein). The Tarn, which is a small lake around the mansion reflects the image of the house. This refers to Roderick and Madeline, since they twins. They look alike, and are merely reflecting images of the same individual, a message indirectly conveyed by the writer. The reference to the bridge over the Tarn, is the only way the brother and sister can interact with the outside world. They have isolated themselves from others, which has caused ignorance in them. They refuse to change their outmoded ways of living and still believe in superstitions. The story is narrated by a third person in the story. The narrator is part of it, because he makes a visit to his friend. This helps in conveying the message more effectively to the readers. With the death of the two characters, excluding the mansion, the story narrates the fact that a mind and its physical counterpart can survive only together. The vivid descriptions and excellent narration almost create visual images in the mind of the readers. The mansion and its inhabitants are haunting characters, with the terror and thrill that they provide. It has helped in making even the most unnatural events look original and natural. Works Cited Bailey, J. O. What Happens in "The Fall of the House of Usher"? Columbus, Ohio: Merrill, 1971. (Provided by the student). Davidson, Edward H. Poe. A Critical Study. New York: Harvard UP, 1964. (Provided by the student). Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849). Books and Writers. 2008. 14 Apr. 2009. . Poe, Edgar Allen. The Fall of the House of Usher. Page by Page Books. . Stein, William Bysshe. The Twin Motif in "The Fall of the House of Usher." Columbus, Ohio: Merrill, 1971. (Provided by the student) Read More