Edgar Allan Poe
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==Close Readings== | ==Close Readings== | ||
| − | ''The Fall of the House of Usher'' | + | ===''The Fall of the House of Usher''=== |
The narrator begins by describing the house of Usher that he is approaching. He states that it’s a very gloomy and mysterious place. After the description, the narrator says that he is there because his friend, Roderick Usher, had asked him to come there out of urgency. It is here that the narrator reveals that the Usher family always suffers and only one of every generation has survived to the next. As he enters the house, he notes how the inside is also very dreary and unsettling. When Roderick greets him, the narrator immediately notes how tired and worn out he looks. Roderick then tells the narrator that he is very nervous and fearful. He then says that his sister, Madeline, has contracted an illness that none of the physicians can figure out. Madeline dies and Roderick enlists the help of the narrator to bury her in the basement tomb underneath the house. He is afraid that the physician’s will try to recover her corpse to conduct experiments on it. The narrator then spends several days at the house to try and console Roderick. One day, when the narrator is reading to the Roderick, he hears Roderick muttering under his breath. As the narrator gets closer, he hears Roderick talking about how he’s been hearing noises from the tombs for days and that they must have buried Madeline alive. Soon after, Madeline bursts into the room covered in blood and rushes at Roderick to attack him. Roderick dies in fear and Madeline dies after. The narrator rushes out of the house and as he flees, the house crumbles to the ground behind him. | The narrator begins by describing the house of Usher that he is approaching. He states that it’s a very gloomy and mysterious place. After the description, the narrator says that he is there because his friend, Roderick Usher, had asked him to come there out of urgency. It is here that the narrator reveals that the Usher family always suffers and only one of every generation has survived to the next. As he enters the house, he notes how the inside is also very dreary and unsettling. When Roderick greets him, the narrator immediately notes how tired and worn out he looks. Roderick then tells the narrator that he is very nervous and fearful. He then says that his sister, Madeline, has contracted an illness that none of the physicians can figure out. Madeline dies and Roderick enlists the help of the narrator to bury her in the basement tomb underneath the house. He is afraid that the physician’s will try to recover her corpse to conduct experiments on it. The narrator then spends several days at the house to try and console Roderick. One day, when the narrator is reading to the Roderick, he hears Roderick muttering under his breath. As the narrator gets closer, he hears Roderick talking about how he’s been hearing noises from the tombs for days and that they must have buried Madeline alive. Soon after, Madeline bursts into the room covered in blood and rushes at Roderick to attack him. Roderick dies in fear and Madeline dies after. The narrator rushes out of the house and as he flees, the house crumbles to the ground behind him. | ||
