¶ … Setting in the Fall of the House of Usher
In many of Poe's stories and poems, setting is one of the most important elements used by the author. Poe possessed an uncanny ability to paint a gloomy and supernatural picture in the minds of his readers. Many critics believe that the reason for his use of gloom and despair was to make his readers understand the correlation between darkness and death.
Setting is one of the most important elements in Poe's short story, "The Fall of the House of Usher." His use of setting reveals early in the story that both the Usher family and the Usher mansion are decaying from the inside out. The reader can immediately identify with the setting, as it sits on the verge of collapse.
When the narrator first approaches the House of Usher, where he is visiting to comfort his old friend, Roderick Usher, he sees a rotten pool of water. He hesitates, reflecting on his reasons for coming to the dark, gloomy house. The narrator reveals that Roderick is suffering from mental depression and asked his old friend to visit him to cheer him up.
The narrator, at this point, looks into the pool of water, seeing the reversed image of the house. The contours of his own image are superimposed upon the house, giving it the appearance of face. In this clever passage, Poe makes the reader feel as though the house is alive.
Power's human characteristics when describing the house gives the story a supernatural feel. When interpreting the story, author Frank N. Magill writes, "Usher feels that it is the form and substance of his family mansion that affects his morale. He believes that, as a result of the arrangement of the stones,...
Things Fall Apart What falls apart and why? The title of Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart refers mainly to the integrity of the Nigerian tribal cultures: to their customs, traditions, and ways of life, all of which fall apart as the result of internal and external conflicts. In Okonkwo's personal life, a series of unfortunate events lead to his loss of personal integrity and his eventual psychological destruction. The gradual yet
The unpolluted picture of Ibo people comes to life with the helps of such things as the detailed description of New Yam Festival that opens Chapter 5. While some things may appear corny and affected such as sentences like this one: "Drums beat violently, and men leaped up and down in a frenzy" [86], most of the comments are meant to highlight the true meaning of these otherwise demeaning observations.
Okonkwo seems full of passionate intensity to preserve things as they are, and to preserve his sense of masculine, patriarchal authority. But although this sense of passion seems to have its origin sense of nostalgia for traditional forms of control, it is also too tied up the man's ego to be called a conviction. A true conviction about justice is not self-interested. It is also worth remembering that Okonkwo's
" Okonkwo inflexible traditionalism pitted him against his gentle son Nwoye, who joined the Christian European missionaries. In the book, Oknokwo had to participate in a ceremonial human sacrifice and endure a seven-year exile after his gun accidentally killed the son of the deceased warrior Ezeudu. He also lost part of himself when he lost Ikemefuna. Upon returning to the village, he found it torn apart by Western Imperialism. Finally, he
Things Fall Apart Hubris and the Suicide of Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart This novel by Chinua Achebe was first published in 1958. Set on the continent of Africa this is the story of Okonkwo, a member of the Umuofia clan, one of nine villages of a tribe in Nigeria. Okonkwo is an esteemed tribesman who, despite the stigma of his cowardly father who died in disgrace leaving many unsettled
Therefore, Okonkwo rejected his father, and hence, the womanly element of himself. He turned out to be a leading wrestler and warrior in his people to make available the facilities of life for his family at a very small age. Simultaneously, he established a new farm and began to collect his own riches, and ultimately a name. His uphill struggle confirms itself in his victory, and he rapidly became
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