IB English
October 6th, 2012
October 6th, 2012
Commentary on 40
lines of “The Fall of the House of Usher”
In
the first 40 lines of the short story “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Edgar
Allan Poe expresses the narrator’s uncomfortableness when arriving at and
regarding the house of his childhood friend Roderick Usher. Through numerous
rhetorical devices, Poe constructed a world charged with atmosphere in which
the narrator struggles, but still meets the desire of his friend.
“With the first glimpse of the building (line 6),” the narrator already feels uncomfortable; he is overcome by a gloom which he emphasizes as “insufferable (line 6-7).” Not really knowing why it happens to him, he becomes unnerved and feels a little bit scared by the “vacant and eye-like windows (line 12).” This personification suggests that the house is looking at the narrator; however, through the word vacant and other descriptions of the house as being bleak, one imagines the setting to be empty, desolate, and lifeless. The “view of the melancholy House of Usher (line 5)” is another personification that enhances the creepiness, and it becomes clear that the place where the narrator has arrived conveys feelings of dreariness and even depression. The surroundings of the house, including a “dreary tract of country (line 3-4),” “ghastly tree-stems (line 31),” “white trunks of decayed trees (line 12 – 13),” and “rank (...) gray sedge(s) (line 12, 30),” increase this impression.
Not only the gloomy atmosphere created by Poe, but also symbolism contributes to the feeling that something dark is happening at – or rather in - the House of Usher. The narrator arrives on a “dull, dark, and soundless day (line 1)” in autumn; it is evening and the “clouds hung oppressively low (line 2).” These words symbolize that something comes to end; perhaps they foreshadow that a death or something dark is about to happen in the house. Another symbol is the house itself, described as a “mansion of gloom (line 32).” It makes the narrator “ponder (line 21),” “reflect (line 24),” and “pause to think (line 18),” thus acting as an embodiment of something the narrator is reminded of. Through a continuous change between internal and external action, it becomes clear which effect the appearance of the scene has on the narrator. He indicates an experience with opium, which is probably what he is reminded of by the house – he compares the “utter depression of soul (line 13)” that overwhelms him when looking at the house to “the bitter lapse into everyday life” after an opium high.
The narrator uses very formal terms when talking of his visit, which adds to the feeling that he does not feel quite comfortable being at this house. His decision to help his friend, who was a “boon companion in boyhood (line 34),” seems to stem from a feeling of obligation. Having noticing the “nervous agitation (line 37)” of Usher’s handwriting, the narrator might have thought it was very urgent to aid his old friend. He states that he “proposed to (himself) a sojourn of some weeks (line 32 – 33)” after having received the “wildly importunate (line 36)” letter. Nevertheless, when he arrives after a long distance of riding his horse alone, he does not seem to reconceive his decision to help this person, who is, after all, nearly a stranger after the “many years had elapsed since (their) last meeting (line 34 – 35).” Perhaps he felt liable to care about diseased Usher who has described him as his “best, and indeed only personal friend (line 39 – 40),” a fact that does not add to a favorable opinion of Usher.
All in all, Poe’s wordchoice, rhetorical devices, and creation of atmosphere give a scary and frightening sensation. Switching between external and internal action with smoothest transitions, the narrator’s inner conflict in response to his dark surrounding becomes terrificly clear. Through emphasis on the ghastly setting, the reader experiences the same shiver as if listening to a horror story. The passage suggests that the narrator does not only feel uncomfortable through having the impression that the house watches him, but also through his assentation to help Usher.
“With the first glimpse of the building (line 6),” the narrator already feels uncomfortable; he is overcome by a gloom which he emphasizes as “insufferable (line 6-7).” Not really knowing why it happens to him, he becomes unnerved and feels a little bit scared by the “vacant and eye-like windows (line 12).” This personification suggests that the house is looking at the narrator; however, through the word vacant and other descriptions of the house as being bleak, one imagines the setting to be empty, desolate, and lifeless. The “view of the melancholy House of Usher (line 5)” is another personification that enhances the creepiness, and it becomes clear that the place where the narrator has arrived conveys feelings of dreariness and even depression. The surroundings of the house, including a “dreary tract of country (line 3-4),” “ghastly tree-stems (line 31),” “white trunks of decayed trees (line 12 – 13),” and “rank (...) gray sedge(s) (line 12, 30),” increase this impression.
Not only the gloomy atmosphere created by Poe, but also symbolism contributes to the feeling that something dark is happening at – or rather in - the House of Usher. The narrator arrives on a “dull, dark, and soundless day (line 1)” in autumn; it is evening and the “clouds hung oppressively low (line 2).” These words symbolize that something comes to end; perhaps they foreshadow that a death or something dark is about to happen in the house. Another symbol is the house itself, described as a “mansion of gloom (line 32).” It makes the narrator “ponder (line 21),” “reflect (line 24),” and “pause to think (line 18),” thus acting as an embodiment of something the narrator is reminded of. Through a continuous change between internal and external action, it becomes clear which effect the appearance of the scene has on the narrator. He indicates an experience with opium, which is probably what he is reminded of by the house – he compares the “utter depression of soul (line 13)” that overwhelms him when looking at the house to “the bitter lapse into everyday life” after an opium high.
The narrator uses very formal terms when talking of his visit, which adds to the feeling that he does not feel quite comfortable being at this house. His decision to help his friend, who was a “boon companion in boyhood (line 34),” seems to stem from a feeling of obligation. Having noticing the “nervous agitation (line 37)” of Usher’s handwriting, the narrator might have thought it was very urgent to aid his old friend. He states that he “proposed to (himself) a sojourn of some weeks (line 32 – 33)” after having received the “wildly importunate (line 36)” letter. Nevertheless, when he arrives after a long distance of riding his horse alone, he does not seem to reconceive his decision to help this person, who is, after all, nearly a stranger after the “many years had elapsed since (their) last meeting (line 34 – 35).” Perhaps he felt liable to care about diseased Usher who has described him as his “best, and indeed only personal friend (line 39 – 40),” a fact that does not add to a favorable opinion of Usher.
All in all, Poe’s wordchoice, rhetorical devices, and creation of atmosphere give a scary and frightening sensation. Switching between external and internal action with smoothest transitions, the narrator’s inner conflict in response to his dark surrounding becomes terrificly clear. Through emphasis on the ghastly setting, the reader experiences the same shiver as if listening to a horror story. The passage suggests that the narrator does not only feel uncomfortable through having the impression that the house watches him, but also through his assentation to help Usher.
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