Vacant and Eye-Like Windows of the House

¶ … vacant and eye-like windows" of the House of Usher spook the nameless narrator and his sickly childhood friend and title heir, Roderick Usher. Decaying trees and a "black and lurid tarn" dot the sullen landscape that greets the narrator on his approach to the Usher estate. This classic Gothic setting influences the narrator as soon as his horse trots towards the crumbling mansion. Probably familiar with depression, the narrator notices immediately what a profound effect the House of Usher has upon his frightened and weakened spirit. The eerie landscape of Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" contributes to characterization.

From the onset of the narrative, the house itself acts as a character; it is humanized and personified by the narrator even before he meets Roderick. Indeed, the narrator is transfixed by the physical nature of the house even before he sets foot inside it and before he meets his old friend. Setting, therefore, informs the narrator's perceptions more than any other element in his surroundings, including Roderick. The narrator's immediate impression of the Usher estate informs his later experiences as the story unfolds. The initial approach to the House of Usher is the quintessential viewing of a haunted house, which artificially and naturally induces feelings of fear and trepidation. The difference between the real and the unreal becomes irrelevant in the face of perceived occult influences. Just as the crumbling House of Usher disturbs the narrator, Roderick's dying family line reminds him also of death, decay, and futility -- all Gothic hallmarks.

The narrator is aware of the diminishing Usher lineage from the start of his tale. Coupled with the gloomy and foreboding panorama that pervades the Usher estate rests the real fact that the Usher family approaches obliteration. The narrator knows that Roderick is the last Usher male and has no offspring who can continue the family line. The house, a symbol of the once-powerful family, reflects the impotency of the Ushers. Often in dreams, houses represent the human being, the self. This is exactly the case in "The Fall of the House of Usher." The title of the short story definitely denotes the dual meaning of "house." The House of Usher is both the body of Roderick and the embodiment of the Usher genealogy. The house falls apart and exhibits a frighteningly large and looming fissure, and the Usher family cracks from a lack of male heirs. The simultaneous dissolution of the physical abode and patriarchal line reinforce the symbolic nature of the "fall" of the Usher house. Echoing deep-rooted fears, a loss of progenitors entails the most ultimate death. The morbid ending of the tale reflects the towering collapse of the Usher mansion.

The Gothic setting complements the sense of death and decay that color both the symbol (the House of Usher) and the symbolized (the Usher family). The veil between the seen and unseen thins during the narrator's brief stay with his dying friend. Maintaining his sanity, the narrator attempts to understand and rationalize what occurs around him. When confronted with the seemingly supernatural haze surrounding the house, the narrator dismisses it as a scientific phenomenon, a natural weather pattern. The conflict brews within the narrator, a conflict that escapes Roderick. While Roderick only sees gruesome and morose meaning in his surroundings, the narrator tries to shed some scientific knowledge on the house of Usher. When Madeline reappears following her potentially premature burial, the narrator flees in earnest fear, realizing that the veil between the real and unreal grew oppressively thin. When the house itself fractures at the fissure witnessed earlier, the narrator breathes relief that he escaped the horrific fate of the Usher clan.

The narrator's interaction with Roderick reaffirms his burgeoning depression and curiosity, which come more and more into conflict with his struggling scientific mind. The narrator knows that the house could influence his friend's and his own mood. But the narrator still struggles with Roderick's insistence that supernatural forces control his destiny. With reason and sensibility, the narrator attempts to dissuade Roderick from attributing his illness solely to superstition. But when he can't sleep and the house increasingly haunts him, the narrator cannot help but succumb to the horrific atmosphere. When he plays music to assuage the gloomy mood, the narrator attempts to cover up or even to suppress the Gothic nature of what unfolds before him. The atmosphere of the house commingles with the narrator's fluctuating and fearsome mood.

Throughout the narrative, subjective observations mix with objective analysis. The narrator struggles to maintain sanity in the face of both his friend's sickness and the house's. The house serves as a looming and large reminder of death and illness. Although the narrator knows that the house is not haunted in the classical sense, he cannot help but be influenced by Roderick's insistent belief in the occult. Even before he reunites with his childhood friend, the narrator assumes the role of the rationalist. This Gothic interplay between the real and the surreal pervades the narrator. This conflict is symbolized by the house, which though it falls apart with age, nevertheless possesses a solid foundation. Likewise, the narrator assumes that although Roderick is the last male heir of the Usher estate, his family remains important.