The fall of the House of Usher is a story that uses a phantasmagoric background to give the reader hints about the mystery of the characters. Poe uses personification in his description to represent the mental state the Usher family and each individual member. The reader can then gain insight into the characters’ enigmatic character.
Roderick, the narrator, tells us that Roderick felt “an influence which some peculiarities in the mere form and substance of his family mansion, has, by dint of long suffering, he said, obtained over his spirit” (Poe 73). The narrator explains that Roderick “felt an influence” which was due to the peculiarities of the mansion’s form and material. This influence, he says, had been gained through long suffering. Roderick feels the effects of the mansion in more than just its physical aspect. Roderick is affected by the decrepit state of the mansion’s grounds, just as the narrator. The narrator is not able to share the deeper connection between Roderick and the house. The reader will notice that the narrator has described the house very similarly to how he describes Roderick. The mansion’s “bleak walls” are mirrored by the “vacant, eye-like windows”, which reflect Roderick’s deathly face (Poe 70). The mansion is personified to show the strong connection between it and the character. Roderick might have initially adopted the mansion’s attributes, but the metaphysical relationship between the forms has grown stronger. The house then began to manifest the attributes in Roderick’s mind.
The author then gives clues about the mental states of the family and from there, predicts the ending of the story. The narrator states that “there was a wild discrepancy between [the house’s] still perfectly adapted parts and the crumbling individual stones”(Poe 71). Here, each part represents the family of Usher as they are still a noble House but have a lack of stability. The question of how long a building can stand if every stone is weak is a foreshadowing. How long until the sanity of one family member brings down the whole?
The house, which is a representation of Roderick’s mind, is also falling apart and won’t be able to sustain him for much longer. The crack runs the full length of Poe’s house and is indicative of their eventual demise. This also reveals the mental state the family members of the house are in. Roderick, who appears in the beginning to be in good health, is actually a very frightening character. Although he seems to still be functioning in many ways, he’s still ordering his household and participating in daily activities. As the narrator explains, “I remained amazed at the strangeness of the images that were evoking in me.” (Poe 72), the effect can be seen throughout the mansion. Although the narrator had seen grand homes and strangely decorated rooms before, it is this particular combination that causes him to be afraid. Roderick’s actions, while seemingly normal, reveal his incredibly unstable mental state. Roderick’s guest is waiting in the same room. Poe 72). There were “many music instruments and books scattered all over the place, but none of them added any vitality to this scene” Roderick reads and paints but these activities don’t inspire him to live. The arts stimulate his mind, but it remains in the grips of chaos and death. Roderick is able to use these faculties for physical purposes, but he does not utilize them fully in order to stimulate his passions. Books and instruments are also not able keep the room from being a somber place. He has reached a point of peril where no amount of art will be able to restore his mind.
The weather at the end of story reinforces mental instability. The collapse of house is a foreshadowed sign of family disintegration. As Roderick enters the narrator’s bedroom, he opens a window so that the tempest outside can rage. The narrator, in fear, remarks that “a violent and frequent change in wind direction was evidently a whirlwind in our immediate vicinity” (Poe79). Roderick’s act of opening the casement is a symbol for his insanity. The violent windstorm that threatens even the foundations is symbolic of Roderick’s madness and chaos that have plagued him throughout the tale. The Usher twins collapse in fear as they are held by the death embrace. “My brain reeled,” says the narrator as she flees. (Poe 82). The raging rain and the fissure of the stones combined with the storm are too much and the structure collapses. Two Ushers have died, leaving the family no more. The connection between their House and them becomes clear as the House too fades into obscurity.
It is difficult to understand the Ushers without knowing the context. Poe offers a parallel which is essential to understand his characters’ motivations. This story’s formal setting is much more important than just a backdrop for the plot. Both the setting and characterization are important in that they make each other more interesting and complex.
