House Of Usher Symbolism

Symbolisms in Edgar Allan Poe’s: The Fall of the House of Usher

Edgar Allan Poe’s famously titled work “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a piece of short horror fiction that effectively utilizes symbolism. There are many examples within the text where objects, incidents and imagery are effectively utilized to give meaning to the reader beyond that which is being described. In this essay, I will analyze how the state of the house, the eye-like windows, the collapse of the house, the presence of a tarn that encircles the house as well as the storm enact as symbols within the story to enhance the reader’s experience and understanding of the story.
The first and most prominent symbol in the story is the house itself. Upon the main character’s
At the beginning of the story, the narrator speaks of the fissure as “barely perceptible” and that “perhaps the eye of a scrutinizing observer might have discovered”. At this stage of the book, nor Madeline or Roderick had yet perished. Though they weren’t dead, they weren’t in great health either, especially Madeline. This imperfection of their physical health thus equates to the fissure found in the structure of the house. Not only is it a fissure, it is described as “barely noticeable”. At the very end of the story, however, the reader finds out that the “once discernable fissure” then extends to the roof causing the entire house to collapse. This occurs shortly after the main character escaped from the house shortly after the return of the ghostly Madeline lunges onto her brother in a seemingly apparent attempt at killing him. Since they are presumed dead upon the main character’s exit this event would symbolize the complete collapse of the Usher
In the story Poe writes “I reined my horse to the precipitous brink of a black and lurid tarn in unruffled luster by the dwelling, and gazed down – but with a shudder even more thrilling than before – upon the remodeled and inverted images of the grey sedge, and the ghastly tree-stems, and the vacant and eye-like windows.” There may be multiple interpretations for this imagery. The first in relation to the reflection of the house in the body of water described as unruffled. This may be an imagery symbolizing the fact that Madeline and Roderick Usher are twins as we later come to find out in the text. Another interpretation of the symbol of the tarn is the crossing of two realms. Before crossing the tarn, the main character can be said to be in an outside realm. However, when he crosses the bridge and onto the Usher’s property, he is entering a world of the gothic and the supernatural. Therefore, the bridge he uses to cross onto the Ushers’ property may, in fact, symbolize the connection between both worlds. Also, there could be purpose behind the mere presence of a tarn around the house. It may point to the fact that both Madeline and Roderick like to live in isolation. Having a tarn presents an objection from the uninvited outside world. Also, the tarn creates an obstacle making it difficult for the brother and sister to even leave the house. The tarn may, in this