The House Taken Over

Fear is among one of the most universal human emotions that everyone is interconnected at one point or another during their lifetime. In the gothic stories, “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “House Taken Over” written by Edgar Allan Poe and Julio Cortazar respectively. Edgar Allen Poe writes about how the character Mr. Usher, who because of his mental illness and delusions, cannot come to terms with his reality. Cortazar writes about the relationship between a brother and sister who have normal everyday lives and have strange and odd nightmare that haunts them. The

Mysterious, captivating, dark, and eerie are some factors that can come to mind when considering the stories composed by Edgar Allan Poe. The Fall of the House of Usher is no deviant from those factors, and leads to many open doors of observation. From the very beginning Poe encloses the setting within an eerie mood, bringing readers though the gothic archway leading to a house of sorrow, foreboding fear all throughout.

Setting places the character and the action to a certain place so that the reader can visualize what is happening in the story. Setting is one of the most obvious similarities between these two stories is their settings. They are both set in dreary, dark, ominous houses for most of the action of the story. One of the houses is set at midnight and the witching hour, and the other house is in disrepair, and is almost disintegrating around the people who live there. Consequently, settings virtually always have implications on the story’s tone. The dark, dreary houses give the stories foreboding tones that add to the horror. Already Poe employs the same setting and tones in these stories that put chills down the readers spines, but they also show the similitude in his writing style.

Setting places the character and the action to a certain place so that the reader can visualize what is happening in the story. The setting is one of the most obvious similarities between these two stories is their settings. Dreary, dark, ominous houses are the settings for most of the action of both stories. “The Tell-Tale Heart”’s action occurs at midnight and the witching hour. “The Fall of the House of Usher”’s house is in disrepair and is almost disintegrating around the people who live there. Consequently, settings virtually always have implications on the story’s tone. The dark, dreary houses give the stories foreboding tones that add to the horror. Already Poe employs the same setting and tones in these stories that put chills down the reader's spines, but they also show the similitude in his writing style.

Edgar Allen Poe's Use of Gothic Setting in The Fall of the House of Usher

Gothic literature is a genre which tends to take place in scary places like mysterious, old castles or deteriorating manors and have elements of horror or fear. The Fall of the House of Usher and House Taken Over are from two different genres, House Taken Over being from magic realism. Magic realism originated from Latin America, this literary style incorporates fantastic elements into ordinary settings and treats them normally within realistic context. Though there are obvious contrasts, there are comparisons as well - like how they portray fear, the characteristics of their said genres, and the estates these stories take place in.

Edgar Allan Poe is best known for his unnerving and suspenseful writings, and “The Fall of the House of Usher” is no exception. Just like Poe’s other clever writings, “The Fall of the House of Usher” portrays a sense of fear and paranoia yet also a touch of curiosity with his extraordinary descriptions about the setting and characters, along with the tone.

Edgar Allen Poe wrote “The Fall of the House of Usher” and it is very twisted. This story is about the narrator coming to a scary looking house that his good friend, Roderick lives there with his twin sister, Madeline. Roderick Usher is the man that lives in the house of Usher and is mentally ill. His sister has come down with an illness, and one day he comes in to check on her. She does not respond to him so he unknowingly buries his sister while she is still alive. The narrator then tries to help Roderick get out of his funk.

The Fall of the House of Usher a horrific story of dieses death and insanity the mirror image of Poe’s life. The death of the women in Poe’s life marks a significant moment in Poe’s life. The death of his mother (Elizabeth Arnold Poe). “left him with an abiding sense of loss and

Have you ever seen a house with human qualities? “The Fall of the House of Usher” is considered Edgar Allen Poe’s best short story. Poe was the master of Gothic Literature, and wrote during the Romantic Era. In 1846 he wrote “The Fall of the House of Usher”, it takes place in Autumn at Roderick Usher’s house/castle. Or another suspected setting could just be in our Narrator’s head. During this short story the Narrator goes an visits and old childhood friend. He has not seen this man since they were children, but Roderick Usher ( friend ) has become ill and would like to enjoy the company of his dear old friend. The Narrator and Roderick enjoy some times together reading, and painting. While there the narrator also encounters Madeline Usher, Roderick’s sister. Who seems to be almost ghostly, until she dies. Or did she? Roderick also ends up dying, and the narrator suspiciously ends where he begins, in the front of the house watching it crash to the ground. This short story is very worthy of its title, for many reasons. Three are because of Poe’s use of “Unity of Effect”, the suspicion he leaves of if the story is reality or just an illusion, and the way he uses the house and one of the characters to relate to each other, or are they just the same? Poe’s best short story is considered “ The Fall of the House of Usher” because of its literary devices and how it leaves its readers feeling.

“The fall of the House of Usher” is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1839. The story is centered on the house of Usher and its mysterious residents Roderick and Madeline Usher. The narrator receives a letter from Roderick stating that he is ill and in desperate need of Roderick’s help. Fear and evil are both very apparent themes throughout this story. The narrator encounters the feeling of fear and evil upon first arriving to the house and in his description of the house.

“The Fall of the House of Usher” penned by Edgar Allan Poe is recognized as a masterpiece of Gothic Horror, a genre or mode of literature that combine horror and romanticism. This piece holds some of the main characteristics of the gothic horror genre: a

To begin with, the short gothic story “The Fall of the House of Usher,” by Edgar Allen Poe explores the decaying House

The two stories definitely mirror each other. Poe goes out his way to describe the incestuous line of the Ushers. He purposely puts gender in the mind of the readers, therefore he must be trying to say something about it. Poe almost seem to play with conventional gender roles in the two stories.Both male and female fight for power over the household and their lives. Roderick seem to have won when he buries his sister alive but Poe thwarts the expected when she comes back to life and brings Roderick to death with

Poe was known for writing his short stories and poems. Both of his parents were recognized for being actors. According to the “Britannica Encyclopedia”, after the mother’s death Poe was taken to Scotland and England from 1815 to 1820. Then, he attended the University of Virginia, but did not finish. He joined the Military due to his financial instability, leaving him no other option at the time. Eventually, Poe was able to get out of the military and move on with pursuing his career in literature(BRITANNICA). One significant piece of literature Poe wrote was “The Fall of the House of Usher”. This story is unique with its rich text, and in order to comprehend some of its phrasing, one must refer back to it a few times for its literary examination. One may infer this was not going to be a romantic novel, after reading the first few lines of this story. Yet, using words such as “dark, oppressively, dreary, shades, and melancholy”, These few words paved an idealistic theory for readers to question the dark events that were going to take place in the short story.