Towards the Understanding of the House of Usher Allegories - Assignment Example

9 questions House of Usher The narrator went to the House of Usher because he received a letter from Roderick, a childhood friend. Roderick asked him to visit the House of Usher because he thinks that the narrator’s company can help him deal with his mental illness. 2. After the narrator arrived, Madeline became sicker, and soon, she died. 3. Roderick gave many reasons for choosing the underground vault, such as the disease of his sister, to prevent further examinations of the doctors, and the burial grounds of the Ushers are too open. 4. No, without Poe’s elaborate language, the story will not have the same mood. Paraphrasing can decrease the elaborate language which can decrease the mood that Poe wanted for his story. For instance, the first paragraph has this description: 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—upon a few rank sedges—and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees—with an utter depression of soul which I can compare to 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 off of the veil. My paraphrase is: Poe sees the house as depressing because of the bleak walls and windows that stares like eyes. My paraphrase decreases the effectiveness of the intention of Poe. He uses elaborate language to fully describe the scenery as if it is a ghost or evil being. 5. How first person viewpoint helps express the experience of terror. narrator’s response to the house. Poe uses first-person viewpoint to show that the terror that is felt from the house can also be connected to the terror felt when dealing with the Ushers too. opinion of Roderick. Poe uses first-person viewpoint to show how he compares and contrasts the house of the Usher to Roderick and how the house that is gloomy can affect Roderick. Roderick’s influence on the narrator. Poe uses first-person viewpoint to show the intimate emotions and thoughts of the narrator, especially how Roderick’s fearfulness makes him fearful too. his efforts to calm his own fears. Poe uses first-person viewpoint to show how a man deals with his fears, by physically and mentally trying to shake it away. 6. The lines are suggesting that the House of Usher is a house that both maintain the aristocratic blood and heritage of the Usher and the pressures that go with the Usher’s name. The House of Usher can be an allegory to the social pressures of conformity and power that can take away people’s sanity because it removes free will from being a different person other than what the Usher family demands. 7. Principle of the single effect setting. The long and narrow windows are like eyes that always look down on people. It supports the terrifying mood of the Usher’s house. The vaulted ceiling and darkness in the house make the house feel like a coffin, which contributes to creating a paranoid impact. The tattered and old furniture signify decay and end of life. character traits. The conditions of Roderick show that he is a terribly sick man with almost nothing cheerful to look forward to. His traits support the effect of paranoia. plot developments. The death of Madeline contributes to the deathly atmosphere of the house and the people in it. Everyone is decaying or dying. imagery. The strong wind is like a ghost that strikes fear on the narrator and Roderick. The gaseous atmosphere seems like a ghost or Death itself, waiting to take more victims. 8. I think that the unified effect accomplishes the intention of creating a mood of fear and paranoia that influence people’s behaviors and mentality about the story and its characters. By turning the elements of the stories into things or allegories that create this mood, Poe builds up fear increasingly among the readers. A disadvantage is that it may be too much if everything is scary. Still, Poe does want everything to be terrifying to prepare for the climax of the story, so I think he is effectively using the unified effect. 9. Brooks is wrong. “The Fall of the House of Usher” is not meaningless because it is not just about the house as a haunted house, but the house as an allegory of social class and social pressures. Poe’s description of the house can be analyzed as the social effects of having an aristocratic name: It was this deficiency, I considered, while running over in thought the perfect keeping of the character of the premises with the accredited character of the people, and while speculating upon the possible influence which the one, in the long lapse of centuries, might have exercised upon the other—it was this deficiency, perhaps, of collateral issue, and the consequent undeviating transmission, from sire to son, of the patrimony with the name, which had, at length, so identified the two as to merge the original title of the estate in the quaint and equivocal appellation of the “House of Usher”—an appellation which seemed to include, in the minds of the peasantry who used it, both the family and the family mansion. Poe is actually quite brilliant in this allegory. One of the greatest horrors in human society is not ghosts or monsters, but the real-life beasts inside social pressures and conventions. Page 435 COMPREHENSION 1. Prince Prospero seals himself and his guests in the abbey because he wanted to avoid getting the disease called the “Red Death.” He believes that by closing himself in the abbey, he can keep the disease outside. 2. Whenever the clock strikes, the revelers cease whatever they are doing, whether they are playing music, or dancing, or simply talking and having fun. The striking of the clock frightens them for reasons that they are not willing to accept- the reality that they can die anytime. 3. When the mysterious figure is unmasked, they cannot see any specific form, but violence falls upon them as they all, one by one, die like Prince Prospero. LITERARY ANALYSIS 4. About Prince Prospero His response to the crisis- It shows that he does not care about the welfare of the common people. He only chooses the upper class as part of his revelers and the lower class who will serve them. His solution to the threat of disease- By hiding in the abbey, Prince Prospero shows poor understanding of how diseases spread. Having parties everyday shows his carefree personality also since he only wants to have fun in the abbey. His plans for the masquerade- His masquerade plans are proof to his madness because of the grotesque images and decorations he wanted. He also has the illusion that he can live forever. In other words, he is not a practical and realistic person. His response to the masked figure- He wants to unmask and cut off the head of the masked figure which shows that Prospero is a tyrannical man who has no sense of humor and does not want any changes to his plans. He also fears death because he does not want anyone to remind him of the Red Death. 5. It is more difficult to remember the descriptions that set the scene because of the elaborate explanations and complex words used. 6. Seventh room’s meaning decorations- The black tapestries and carpet suggest the darkness of the human spirit and the darkness of death. The red windows are blood or death. atmosphere- The light created a frightening atmosphere because of the red panes and black curtains and walls. location- Its detachment from the rest of the abbey shows the fragmentation of a distressed identity. what occurs there- Death occurs there so the seventh room signifies the certainty of death. 7. Main Story Element Possible meaning Supporting details Prince Prospero  He represents the side of humanity that is both optimistic and violent.  “But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious.” “"Who dares?" he demanded hoarsely of the courtiers who stood near him --"who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and unmask him --that we may know whom we have to hang at sunrise, from the battlements!” The abbey  The abbey represents the materialistic side of society and the detached side of humanity that confines or imprisons people.  “This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the princes own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. The abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think.” The series of seven rooms  The series of seven rooms stands for the stages of human life.  “This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the princes own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. The abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think.” The clock  The clock is an allegory for Time and mortality.  “…while the chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew pale, and the more aged and sedate passed their hands over their brows as if in confused reverie or meditation.” The masked stranger  The masked stranger is red death.  “His vesture was dabbled in blood --and his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror.” 8. Their behaviors reflect real-world responses because instead of putting the sick into quarantine, they put the healthy ones in quarantine. They also show denial in their merry-making actions. They deny the possibility that they will get sick and die soon. 9. Prospero might be sick already and dreamt of the masked man. This can be inferred from how the masked man swiftly moved across the rooms, when the story already described how hard it was to move from one room to another before. Instead, the masked man moved like a ghost: “…but with the same solemn and measured step which had distinguished him from the first, through the blue chamber to the purple --through the purple to the green --through the green to the orange --through this again to the white --and even thence to the violet, ere a decided movement had been made to arrest him.” His swift movement suggests that Prospero is hallucinating because he is already sick with Red Death. EXERCISE Four APRIL 23 1. JOURNAL ENTRIES: Describe what you believe an allegory is, and provide an example of an allegory. An allegory is a story where events, characters, and things, among others, represent something more than their literal meanings and provide social, political, or other philosophical meanings. An example of an allegory is the movie, The Matrix, which can be an allegory for Christianity, where Neo is Christ, who has the mission of saving the world, through opening the world’s eyes to the truth of their slavery to pagan beliefs. 2. JOURNAL ENTIRES: Please analyze and infer what the following allegory means: ALLEGORY (fairy tale) The man pushed the rock up the hill. He struggled for long time and almost reached the top. As he gave a last heave, the rock slipped and rolled all the way down He had to begin again. He had already begun a hundred times This is an allegory of the meaninglessness of life, where numerous efforts are not unrewarded. Describe your favorite part of the Fall of the House of Usher.... My favorite part is when Lady Madeline shows in bloody robes and fell on her brother. This is my favorite part because of its creepiness and dramatic irony, where the supposedly dead kills the living. Exercise Six May 1 Create your own Allegory A woman was born learning how to cook, sew, clean the house, wash the laundry, and take care of kids. Once married, she did all that. Then, she dreamt of one day working outside the house and earning her money because it would free her from domestic duties. The war happened and she worked in a factory. She had money, but when she went home, she still did all the household chores and child caring. Her husband was at war. When he came home, he drank until he died. The meaning of the allegory is the multiple burdens of women. Economic independence did not give women a better and freer life, only additional responsibilities. EXERCISE Seven MAY 1 research (2) allegory examples C.S. Lewiss The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a religious allegory. The lion Aslan is Christ, and the character of Edmund is Judas because he betrays Aslan. George Orwells novel Animal Farm is a political allegory that represents the political events in Russian history from 1917 to 1943. Exercise Eight May 2 research (2) allegory examples John Bunyans Pilgrims Progress (1678) is an allegory for the pilgrimage of the human soul from temptation to salvation. Nathaniel Hawthornes "Young Goodman Brown" is an allegory for the fall of man because of having false gods. Read More