Edger Allan Poe was born in 1809, in Boston. He lost his parents
at a very young age and was forced to enter into a foster family where he
developed an unpleasant relationship with his foster father. Because of
circumstances, he lived in poverty and hardships and was deprived of all
childhood privileges. He had a god-gifted talent for writing short stories
particularly horror stories.
Poe is regarded as the pioneer of short stories. He invented
detective stories on his own and mastered the art of writing horror
fiction. He was the man who held the key to American Romanticism. Poe used
the term short story to refer to his collection of short prose narratives,
known at the time as tales.
According to him, a short story is a prose narrative requiring from half
an hour to one or two hours in its perusal. Though, at the time when Poe
was writing, this genre was not as popular as it became later.
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Novels were
the most widely read genre of fiction and had widespread appeal
among publishers and audiences. Poe took the task of making short stories
popular and accomplished it. He not only refreshed this genre but
reinvigorated it. He cleverly combined elements of Romance and horror
and came up with a work of fiction that is remembered to date.
Poe published his first collection of short stories "Tales of
Grotesque and Arabesque" which among many others widely read short
stories included The Fall of House of Usher. There are three
important characters in the story: the Narrator whose name is never
mentioned and the twins Roderick Usher and Madeline Usher. The narrator
receives a letter from his childhood friend Roderick to visit him as soon
as possible as he is suffering from a strange mental illness. Roderick
lives in a sinister, ghostly, and weird mansion that has passed onto him
from his family. The twins are the last of the Usher bloodline.
The narrator examines the mansion from outside and finds it petrifying. It
is Poe's genius is to use his setting as an integral element of his
stories. The settings are not just the background for the stories but play
an important part because they are often manipulated skillfully to magnify
the terrifying power of his stories. The readers can guess from his
settings how the story is going to unfold.
As the narrator meets his childhood friend, he
becomes aware of his illness as he suffers from an acuteness of senses.
The narrator is told that Medaline is suffering from catalepsy and is
going to die. The thought of her death has depressed Roderick. He has not left
the mansion for years. To take his mind off his miserable life, the narrator
indulges him in discussions about art and music.
The Narrator is informed that Medaline dies,
however, whether she is actually dead or because of her seizures she just
appears to be dead is a mystery. The two men entomb her corpse in one of
the vaults underneath the mansion.
The narrator soon finds out that they are twins
and share a supernatural bond. They have a kind of relationship that goes
beyond a normal brother and sister relationship. Some critics have interpreted
this relationship as incest because of the history of the Usher family
with incest. We can never be sure; all that we know is that the two are so
much emotionally attached to one another that the thought of the death of
one kills the other.
After a week of her death, on a stormy, turbulent night, the
narrator and his friend are not able to sleep, hence the two read fictional
stories. The sound of the narrator reading stories to Roderick
reverberates from below the mansion which freaks out Roderick because he
believes that they have buried her alive. Whether it is true or not, in
the next scene she appears with blood on her body and falls on Roderick
and kills him. The narrator runs away and watches the mansion fall.
This is the story of the fall/end of the usher family. Just like
the mansion which cracks in two and sinks into the dark pool, the Usher
family ends tragically.
Although Medaline is always silent in the story, she has a great impact
on Roderick. It is this supernatural relationship between the two that
causes the death of her brother. Some critics believe that this emotional
bond resurrected her to take his brother's life so that the two can be
together in the afterlife.
It is not unusual for Poe to feature first-person narration in his
stories. However, what makes the narrator of this story of particular
interest is that he remains anonymous. We do not know anything about the
age of the narrator or where he comes from. This is done intentionally
because it allows the readers to identify themselves with the narrator
easily. To have an unidentified narrator, carrying out the whole narration
makes the reader give the story's undivided attention.
The Fall of House of Usher creates from the very beginning a sense of terror in the minds of readers. The language, setting, the mad characters, and the mansion combine to create an atmosphere of sadness, gloom, and terror. An in-depth description of the mansion creates feelings of depression. The mansion according to Roderick is sentient; it has the power to perceive and control its inhabitants.
The Fall of House of Usher features multiple themes such as
madness, terror, incest, the fragility of the human mind, etc. Terror not only arises from the
death and resurrection of Medaline but also from the setting. The mansion
is described in a way that evokes feelings of horror in the guts of
readers. It is the perfect setting for the story.
Death is also a popular theme in lots of Poe's works. The death of
Medaline has remained an enigma wrapped up in mystery. Whether she was dead in
reality or she was buried alive because she was thought to be dead due to her
seizures is a puzzle still unsolved. Her death worsens the mental situation of
her brother and life gets harder and harder for him. When Medaline appears and
attacks Roderick he also dies leading to the end of the Usher family.
Poe has also used multiple symbols in this story. The crack in the
exterior wall represents the crack in the Usher family. The sister is sick
and dying. The crack in the family deepens when she dies and the twin separates. It
is represented by the crack in the wall which deepens and becomes the
cause of the fall of the mansion.
The mansion itself is a symbol. The description given in the story
of the building is dreadful representing the gloomy situation of the
twins. The windows resemble vacant eyes and the landscape is decaying.
Just as the mansion is on the verge of destruction so does the Usher
family.
By, Asif Abbas
