Edgar Allan Poe Duality

Unquestionably, one of the most interesting aspects of Edgar allan poe’s short stories is the use of a Doubling Motif. Edgar allan poe best presents this mirroring effect throughout the short story, “Fall of the House of Usher”. Whether it is obvious or not, Poe is constantly symbolizing duality in many key elements throughout the short story. One could easily note the correspondence between the house and the Usher family. Poe uses the word “house” metaphorically, but he is also describing a real house. For it is that house that ultimately determines the fate of the family. From the beginning, the description of the house with its “fungi overspread the whole exterior” and “a barely perceptible fissure” represents something not “right” with