Rebecca: I would say that the house plays a large part in the story. The house gives off the fear feeling that Poe wants to get across to his readers. Since this is a horror story, most of us initially get the impression after the story that the house caused all of these unusual events.
Well Poe talks a lot about how he feels the mood of the house. In the beginning, he talks about how the windows look like eyes. I think the way he talks about the house being creepy all the time, it almost comes alive to the reader.
Emily: But is it more than this fear that is important in this view of the house? For example, a lot of what happens with the Ushers themselves seems related to the house in a way...
Rebecca K> The house is like an extension of the character of Roderick Usher. Like everything about Roderick and all the actions he takes can be seen in one aspect or another of the house. And the house is like a representation of Ushers outward appearance while Usher himself would almost represent his inner thoughts and feelings.
The house is a character itself because it seems very real and Poe makes the readers wonder if the house actually caused these events. I feel that the readers did infer that after reading the story.
The house creates a feeling of oppression and vicinity. It is not an actual talking "character" per-se, but it sets the tone and is therefore important to the story.
The house was the first setting description that the reader gets, and it sets the mood for the rest of the story. Without the creepy house, would the story be as scary?
Sorry everyone... I posted on fifth hours This is Katie Franks I feel like the only reason that there is one generation is that they will only have one son that person will marry one person and they will have only one son. It's that simple October 27, 2011 12:47 PM Katie F said... I think it is a curse because even in the story, the writer began talking and acting like Usher. So I think it is a curse of the house. And also every one else in the house had a sickness soooo....
I think the reason that Usher went crazy at the end was because one he was a hypochondryatic which meant he was so nervous about every single thing that when he heard sounds coming from the tomb he was so nervous that he went totally crazy.
Off of Spencer's point, the whole description of the house leads us into it's dreary atmosphere. Ernest Hemingway did this often to make his writing more dark.
@Rebecca: I didn't think the house was as much a character, but rather a metaphor. The house at the beginning set the mood for the rest of the story, and I think it signified the mood inside the house, created by the illness and insanity. I didn't quite think that Poe's personification made the house a character, I think it just made the situation more real.
The house is almost living through them or because of them. For example when things go bad for Madeline, the house seems different too. Also like when he says "The discoloration of ages had been great." It could be like how the people grew up so did the house.
Rebecca: I would say there is more than fear. Confusion comes into play as well. The Usher family who is currently alive probably wonders why all of their family is dying off. With families often comes cousins, aunts, grandparents etc. I do not think that the Ushers who are alive can say that they have any of that.
I think that the house is a mirror of Usher himself... as in that Usher's personality is reflected in the atmosphere and looks of the house. Like the worksheet we had where it asked us if our houses are a clear representation of who we are as a person. In this case I say it is true.
@ Kate E. I think the story would be way less scary if the house wasn't there. When you start reading it, you get that eerie feeling because of the description of the house and that feeling increases as the story continues. It's like watching a scary movie. The movie wouldn't be as scary if it wasn't for the music.
I would say that he also uses the house to comment on the way certain images throughout the story change the characters, and indeed interact with the characters as if these objects were characters themselves. In describing the house he is able to say that, "there are certain combinations of very simple natural objects which have the power of thus affecting us, still the analysis of this power lies among considerations beyond our depth," almost as justification for the likelihood of his tale.
@Madeline, I agree with what you said. Poe doesn't introduce the house at the beginning to set the mood and then leave it alone, he keeps talking about the house throughout the whole thing. I think Poe does portray the house growing up with the people who live there.
Michael: When Poe tries to create the dreary atmosphere, it does not appear as though it is necessarily because he wants to be "dark". I view it more as a foreshadowing idea where by giving us this dreary atmosphere, he is foreshadowing all of these crazy events that are going to happen.
@ Rebecca- I would say the house is a character however not that much of one. It has a lot of contribute to the story but, like Emma said, it's more of a metaphor that enhances the short story and the events that happen in it
What do you believe the quote in french at the top of the short story stands for or symbolizes? I translated the quote and it reads: His heart is a poised lute, soon as it is touched, it resounds.
@Hannah, I think that aspect adds to the story because it adds to the mystery of it all. Not only does the story take place in a creepy house with questionable people living there, but the narrator is also a mystery.
Rebecca- I also think the house plays a large part in the story. The house and atmosphere seems to feed the despair and depression ailing Usher. He cannot escape it because every moment of his life he is surrounded by it. As soon as the main character sets foot on the property and lays eyes on the landscape and house, he immediately feels the affects of the atmosphere.I believe if the setting was different, the outcome of this story would have been completely different. The house was used to portray the madness suffocating the residents of the house, making it a huge part of the story.
I think the house played a huge part because it's pretty much something that contained the history of the family's " curse". I think if the family didn't live in there anymore( if they were a live) then they would probably live bett if that makes sense?
Kelsie: He mentions these instruments almost to refer in a sense the the fragility of the human heart. The French poem included at the beginning, describes how a heart is like a lute to Poe, and how it resounds at the slightest touch, much like the characters in the story.
Like Cassie said in the inner circle... At first the main character is just observing Usher. In the end he realizes that he is relatively crazy, yet at one point the main character says, that he feared him but was in awe of him at the same time. What does this mean, do you think?
I think the house in a way is perfectly symbolic of the actual family because at the beginning of the story he describes the house as being in perfect shape in terms of the infrastructure being sound but he also talks about how the age of the wood holding up the house may look fine on the outside but it is so aged that it may break any moment. This is like the family, although there are two Ushers to pass on the family both of them are near death, also by the size of their mansion and the amount of servants they have show that they are still wealthy, and also their history seems like they were a powerful family but behind the facade the family is in fact dying and deteriorated.
Hannah> I think that Poe did this in order to stress the fact that this is a very detached atmosphere in general. Throughout the whole story we don't learn anything about the surroundings of the house or other people. It really concentrates on Usher and his sister. It makes you feel like this house and its inhabitants are in their own world and the writer is intruding into this environment that had remained totally isolated for so long.
Hannah: It gives us a sense of mystery. Since we do not know anything about the narrator, we wonder what his personality was like.In history last year, we watched the Twilight Zone and the people who were trying to make this woman what they considered to be beautiful, their beauty view was not at all what viewers were expecting. We know absolutely nothing about the narrator's personality, so it adds mystery. For example, what is something that happen could have been provoked by his personality?
@Hannah. The reason we probably don't know much about him is because it didn't seem relevant to be put in, or at least Poe may have thought that. You learn a little about his past when he is remembering his childhood friend. It also adds to the creepiness, I believe.
@HannahRaeLeto - Maybe we don't know much about the narrator because we don't need to know about him. Poe could have been using him to just get the stroy of Usher out. It can't be from Usher's perspective, so he uses a narrator to tell the story.
Class- I thought it was interesting how Poe said that the Usher family "put out no enduring branch", or the whole family "lay in the direct line of descent". This is suggesting inbreeding, which is known to cause mental illness. Do you guys think the Usher family is inbred, and if so, why did Poe choose to put that in the story?
@Steven, I think the narrator is a completely different character that Poe. He's trying to create another part to the mystery by not telling us anything about the narrator.
I think that the symbolism of "the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens" is foreshadowing that something bad will later happen in the story. If it were to be a warm and sunny day, then we would expect a happy story but when the weather is gloomy, then we are set in the mood for a sad story.
Many of the objects intertwine with the setting throughout the story and almost seem to change with the characters, as if these objects were outward representations of the characters, just as loud and fluid to the reader as the characters themselves, as if the house and other objects say for the characters what they cannot or would not say themselves.
The character could very well be Poe. It could be representing his wandering sense, that could want to go back to what was known( his childhood). But it could have turned out once he got there it wasn't anything like he expected or remembered.
@Hannah: I think the less we know about the narrator, the creepier and eerier the story is. The beginning sets the mood for the entire story, and the mood is set as bleak and desolate. The more mysterious the narrator, the more questions we have, and the theme is farther concreted.
@Kate: I think possible because they are twins it adds to the sense that they are closely connected. There have been myths where twins can feel when the other one is in pain or gets hurt, so maybe Poe is hinting that because they are so alike, he is able to add to the character of Usher through his sister.
Throughout the story, we see the house and objects within the story as outward representations of the characters. To what extent is this story an outward representation of Poe himself?
@claudia- Now that I think of it the quote has so much to do with the story. As the narrator stayed at the house, he began to turn into more of an "Usher" and began acting like him. So like the quote said when a heart with poisoned lute touches another one, it resounds. Like when a person who is "poisoned", "touches" another person, they will end up entirely effecting that person.
@ Jack, He did marry his cousin, someone in his family. He could have related this to her death or even just the thought of her dying. So he did have an inbred family.So he may expressed that through this story.
MadelineJ- When you said that "the house is living through them or because of them", I agree, I think the house is living through them AND because of them. for example, in "The Haunted Place" poem: he talks about the house being of "surpassing beauty" and "glorious, golden", describing its beauty and happiness. He also mentions a door in the past; "Was the fair palace door, through which came flowing, flowing, flowing, and sparkling evermore" and then proceeds to compare that to the door today; "While, like a rapid ghastly river, through the pale door, a hideous throng rushed out forever, and laugh--but smile no more." He is saying as the years went by, the happiness faded and a happy laughed turned to an evil laugh. He is using the door and laugh as a metaphor to say: The Good and happy turned to evil and sorrowful.
I think that Poe wrote this story to show his inner feelings. He was alone in life and he wanted was a struggling writer. He also had a brother and sister and he might have been feeling animosity towards one of them and expressed that through fictional characters.
Jack> Poe may have inserted inbreeding to show that this family was closer to themselves than to anybody else. Because as weird as it is the thing that really put Usher over the edge was the death of his sister. Of all the people in the world Usher is closest to his sister. There weren't any other people even mentioned besides the writer outside of Usher's family.
@Hannah: Sometimes, when somebody does something or reacts a certain way, it is just a part of their personality. Your personality causes a lot of what you do. I think that his personality may have been a helping cause as to what was done about the situation or the outcome of the story. For example, he fled in the story. How might the outcome had been different if his personality were different? His personality may have wanted him to stick around to see what continued to happen.
@Kate, I think Poe made Usher and his sister twins, because it adds a sense of unity and showed how connected mentally they really were. It adds to the family's interesting history and past.
@Rebecca, I think he puts everything about him into this story. When we all found fun facts about him, many of us discovered that his parents died, he was adopted, he didn't get along with his foster father, his brother died, and his sister went insane. These family issues are shown in this story by the way that Usher and Madeline act.
Claudia: I think the quote represents hwo one person, action, or thing can have such a huge impact on something else. As soon as one enters Ushers presence and comes in contact with him, his mannerisms and characteristics have a large effect.He influences those around him just by being there. It shows that even the smallest encounter can change a person or cause them to feel a certain way. Poe is telling us about the effect we have on each other.
After looking up all of those facts about poe i think that this story may relate a lot to his life. In the story usher's sister madeline became mad, in real life poe's sister became mad. In the story the whole atmosphere of the house is bleak gloomy and really depressing and I think poe thought of his life a bleak gloomy and depressive
Madeline- But marrying a distant cousin would not be a direct line of descent. That would add another branch to the family tree. A direct line of descent would be brother and sister, or twin brother and sister like Madeline and Roderick in The Fall of the House of Usher.
MichaelM> I think that Poe meant for people to find a deeper meaning. This connects to the question Courtney asked earlier “Since this is a famous story, what makes it famous?” and I think he incorporated many things that could be taken deeper but deeper in multiple directions and that is what makes it a famous Literary piece. It can be applied or analyzed however the reader wants to.
@MadelineJ-The significance of this being a childhood friend of his could simply be to show how much people can change over time and to insert the background knowledge that Usher was not always crazy.
I think that he put his sister in the tomb because he was having problems of his own and he just wanted to get rid of her. I don't think that he was expecting her to die in there, but rather to escape. Also, I think that he was just genuinely scared and he really didn't know what to do.
Madeline: I do not think he was expecting any of this. It is said in the story "Although as boys, we had been even intimate associates, yet I really knew little of my friend. His reserve had always been excessive and habitual." Although they were friends, he did not know much about Usher. From that, he implies that he didn't know any of this happened. Had he known, the outcome of this story potentially could have been very different.
@Hannah, I think all of Poe's stories represent his life and the events that happened within his life, not just this story, but I do agree with your statement.
EmilyB- I think that anyone who was sane would have fled the house at that point. Madeline had just killed Usher and the house itself was "dieing" I don't know if the outcome of the story depended on his personality as much as mental state.
One thing I notice about his writing and the reason that the writing is popular is because h spends most of the story describing just his daily life in the house and the reader is wondering what will happen then it is like some murder mysteries that are so popular today that is the background information in the story is actually the answer to the mystery that the reader has been looking for all along. For example, when they bury her it is just background information about this morbid story but then she comes back at the end of the story completing the plot when the reader had already pushed her out of his train of thought. In other words, the whole time the reader is waiting for the fall but the answer is already in front of the reader but not important enough for the reader to connect the dots.
To what extent is the house itself a character within the story?
ReplyDeleteRebecca: I would say that the house plays a large part in the story. The house gives off the fear feeling that Poe wants to get across to his readers. Since this is a horror story, most of us initially get the impression after the story that the house caused all of these unusual events.
ReplyDeleteI think the house is very much a character because of the amount of description poe uses to talk about it, he seemed to use A LOT of personification
ReplyDeleteWell Poe talks a lot about how he feels the mood of the house. In the beginning, he talks about how the windows look like eyes. I think the way he talks about the house being creepy all the time, it almost comes alive to the reader.
ReplyDeleteEmily: But is it more than this fear that is important in this view of the house? For example, a lot of what happens with the Ushers themselves seems related to the house in a way...
ReplyDeleteIt has it's own personality. It's atmosphere as Poe said impacted him and made him grow suspicious and fearful.
ReplyDeleteRebecca K> The house is like an extension of the character of Roderick Usher. Like everything about Roderick and all the actions he takes can be seen in one aspect or another of the house. And the house is like a representation of Ushers outward appearance while Usher himself would almost represent his inner thoughts and feelings.
ReplyDeleteThe house is a character itself because it seems very real and Poe makes the readers wonder if the house actually caused these events. I feel that the readers did infer that after reading the story.
ReplyDeletePoe mentions musical instruments scattered around the house quite a few times. Why do you think this is significant to the rest of the story?
ReplyDeleteThe house creates a feeling of oppression and vicinity. It is not an actual talking "character" per-se, but it sets the tone and is therefore important to the story.
ReplyDeleteThe house was the first setting description that the reader gets, and it sets the mood for the rest of the story. Without the creepy house, would the story be as scary?
ReplyDeleteSorry everyone... I posted on fifth hours
ReplyDeleteThis is Katie Franks
I feel like the only reason that there is one generation is that they will only have one son that person will marry one person and they will have only one son. It's that simple
October 27, 2011 12:47 PM
Katie F said...
I think it is a curse because even in the story, the writer began talking and acting like Usher. So I think it is a curse of the house. And also every one else in the house had a sickness soooo....
I think the reason that Usher went crazy at the end was because one he was a hypochondryatic which meant he was so nervous about every single thing that when he heard sounds coming from the tomb he was so nervous that he went totally crazy.
ReplyDeleteOff of Spencer's point, the whole description of the house leads us into it's dreary atmosphere. Ernest Hemingway did this often to make his writing more dark.
ReplyDelete@Rebecca: I didn't think the house was as much a character, but rather a metaphor. The house at the beginning set the mood for the rest of the story, and I think it signified the mood inside the house, created by the illness and insanity. I didn't quite think that Poe's personification made the house a character, I think it just made the situation more real.
ReplyDeleteThe house is almost living through them or because of them. For example when things go bad for Madeline, the house seems different too. Also like when he says "The discoloration of ages had been great." It could be like how the people grew up so did the house.
ReplyDeleteRebecca: I would say there is more than fear. Confusion comes into play as well. The Usher family who is currently alive probably wonders why all of their family is dying off. With families often comes cousins, aunts, grandparents etc. I do not think that the Ushers who are alive can say that they have any of that.
ReplyDeleteI think that the house is a mirror of Usher himself... as in that Usher's personality is reflected in the atmosphere and looks of the house. Like the worksheet we had where it asked us if our houses are a clear representation of who we are as a person. In this case I say it is true.
ReplyDelete@ Kate E. I think the story would be way less scary if the house wasn't there. When you start reading it, you get that eerie feeling because of the description of the house and that feeling increases as the story continues. It's like watching a scary movie. The movie wouldn't be as scary if it wasn't for the music.
ReplyDeleteI would say that he also uses the house to comment on the way certain images throughout the story change the characters, and indeed interact with the characters as if these objects were characters themselves. In describing the house he is able to say that, "there are certain combinations of very simple natural objects which have the power of thus affecting us, still the analysis of this power lies among considerations beyond our depth," almost as justification for the likelihood of his tale.
ReplyDelete@Madeline, I agree with what you said. Poe doesn't introduce the house at the beginning to set the mood and then leave it alone, he keeps talking about the house throughout the whole thing. I think Poe does portray the house growing up with the people who live there.
ReplyDeleteMichael: When Poe tries to create the dreary atmosphere, it does not appear as though it is necessarily because he wants to be "dark". I view it more as a foreshadowing idea where by giving us this dreary atmosphere, he is foreshadowing all of these crazy events that are going to happen.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't we know that much about the storyteller? How do you think that it adds to the story?
ReplyDelete@ Rebecca- I would say the house is a character however not that much of one. It has a lot of contribute to the story but, like Emma said, it's more of a metaphor that enhances the short story and the events that happen in it
ReplyDeleteWhat do you believe the quote in french at the top of the short story stands for or symbolizes? I translated the quote and it reads: His heart is a poised lute, soon as it is touched, it resounds.
ReplyDeleteYes. But also it could represent his sister, which could show the bond between a family and/or siblings. How the house was almost the balance.
ReplyDelete@Hannah, I think that aspect adds to the story because it adds to the mystery of it all. Not only does the story take place in a creepy house with questionable people living there, but the narrator is also a mystery.
ReplyDeleteRebecca- I also think the house plays a large part in the story. The house and atmosphere seems to feed the despair and depression ailing Usher. He cannot escape it because every moment of his life he is surrounded by it. As soon as the main character sets foot on the property and lays eyes on the landscape and house, he immediately feels the affects of the atmosphere.I believe if the setting was different, the outcome of this story would have been completely different. The house was used to portray the madness suffocating the residents of the house, making it a huge part of the story.
ReplyDeleteI think the house played a huge part because it's pretty much something that contained the history of the family's " curse". I think if the family didn't live in there anymore( if they were a live) then they would probably live bett if that makes sense?
ReplyDeleteKelsie: He mentions these instruments almost to refer in a sense the the fragility of the human heart. The French poem included at the beginning, describes how a heart is like a lute to Poe, and how it resounds at the slightest touch, much like the characters in the story.
ReplyDeleteLike Cassie said in the inner circle... At first the main character is just observing Usher. In the end he realizes that he is relatively crazy, yet at one point the main character says, that he feared him but was in awe of him at the same time. What does this mean, do you think?
ReplyDeleteI think the house in a way is perfectly symbolic of the actual family because at the beginning of the story he describes the house as being in perfect shape in terms of the infrastructure being sound but he also talks about how the age of the wood holding up the house may look fine on the outside but it is so aged that it may break any moment. This is like the family, although there are two Ushers to pass on the family both of them are near death, also by the size of their mansion and the amount of servants they have show that they are still wealthy, and also their history seems like they were a powerful family but behind the facade the family is in fact dying and deteriorated.
ReplyDeleteI think the french quote is talking about how usher is a hypochondriac. Every little noise or movement sets him off and makes him nervous.
ReplyDeleteHannah> I think that Poe did this in order to stress the fact that this is a very detached atmosphere in general. Throughout the whole story we don't learn anything about the surroundings of the house or other people. It really concentrates on Usher and his sister. It makes you feel like this house and its inhabitants are in their own world and the writer is intruding into this environment that had remained totally isolated for so long.
ReplyDeleteKind of a spin-off of Hannah's question, but is the narrator supposed to be Poe himself, or a completely separate character?
ReplyDeleteHannah: It gives us a sense of mystery. Since we do not know anything about the narrator, we wonder what his personality was like.In history last year, we watched the Twilight Zone and the people who were trying to make this woman what they considered to be beautiful, their beauty view was not at all what viewers were expecting. We know absolutely nothing about the narrator's personality, so it adds mystery. For example, what is something that happen could have been provoked by his personality?
ReplyDelete@Hannah. The reason we probably don't know much about him is because it didn't seem relevant to be put in, or at least Poe may have thought that. You learn a little about his past when he is remembering his childhood friend. It also adds to the creepiness, I believe.
ReplyDelete@HannahRaeLeto - Maybe we don't know much about the narrator because we don't need to know about him. Poe could have been using him to just get the stroy of Usher out. It can't be from Usher's perspective, so he uses a narrator to tell the story.
ReplyDelete@Rebecca, that's a really interesting point. I never thought to connect the instruments to the poem and the characters in that way.
ReplyDeleteWhy did Poe make Usher and his sister twins? What does it add to the story?
ReplyDeleteClass- I thought it was interesting how Poe said that the Usher family "put out no enduring branch", or the whole family "lay in the direct line of descent". This is suggesting inbreeding, which is known to cause mental illness. Do you guys think the Usher family is inbred, and if so, why did Poe choose to put that in the story?
ReplyDelete@Steven, I think the narrator is a completely different character that Poe. He's trying to create another part to the mystery by not telling us anything about the narrator.
ReplyDeleteI think that the symbolism of "the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens" is foreshadowing that something bad will later happen in the story. If it were to be a warm and sunny day, then we would expect a happy story but when the weather is gloomy, then we are set in the mood for a sad story.
ReplyDeleteEmily- What do you mean by provoked? I think I get what you're saying but I'm not sure..
ReplyDeleteMany of the objects intertwine with the setting throughout the story and almost seem to change with the characters, as if these objects were outward representations of the characters, just as loud and fluid to the reader as the characters themselves, as if the house and other objects say for the characters what they cannot or would not say themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe character could very well be Poe. It could be representing his wandering sense, that could want to go back to what was known( his childhood). But it could have turned out once he got there it wasn't anything like he expected or remembered.
ReplyDelete@Kate E, I think Poe made the two closer, to show that Usher buried a little part of himself, part of his entity.
ReplyDelete@Hannah: I think the less we know about the narrator, the creepier and eerier the story is. The beginning sets the mood for the entire story, and the mood is set as bleak and desolate. The more mysterious the narrator, the more questions we have, and the theme is farther concreted.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he added it to show how close his family is and they didn't want to spoil it by bringing in someone else. Or maybe the family is very prideful
ReplyDelete@Kate: I think possible because they are twins it adds to the sense that they are closely connected. There have been myths where twins can feel when the other one is in pain or gets hurt, so maybe Poe is hinting that because they are so alike, he is able to add to the character of Usher through his sister.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the story, we see the house and objects within the story as outward representations of the characters. To what extent is this story an outward representation of Poe himself?
ReplyDeleteBased on what Paul just said, is the only reason we read these kinds of stories the product of our morbid curiosity?
ReplyDeleteDo you guys think music plays a big role in this story or is it just something thrown in?
ReplyDelete@claudia- Now that I think of it the quote has so much to do with the story. As the narrator stayed at the house, he began to turn into more of an "Usher" and began acting like him. So like the quote said when a heart with poisoned lute touches another one, it resounds. Like when a person who is "poisoned", "touches" another person, they will end up entirely effecting that person.
ReplyDelete@ Jack, He did marry his cousin, someone in his family. He could have related this to her death or even just the thought of her dying. So he did have an inbred family.So he may expressed that through this story.
ReplyDeleteMadelineJ- When you said that "the house is living through them or because of them", I agree, I think the house is living through them AND because of them. for example, in "The Haunted Place" poem: he talks about the house being of "surpassing beauty" and "glorious, golden", describing its beauty and happiness. He also mentions a door in the past; "Was the fair palace door, through which came flowing, flowing, flowing, and sparkling evermore" and then proceeds to compare that to the door today; "While, like a rapid ghastly river, through the pale door, a hideous throng rushed out forever, and laugh--but smile no more." He is saying as the years went by, the happiness faded and a happy laughed turned to an evil laugh. He is using the door and laugh as a metaphor to say: The Good and happy turned to evil and sorrowful.
ReplyDeleteI think that Poe wrote this story to show his inner feelings. He was alone in life and he wanted was a struggling writer. He also had a brother and sister and he might have been feeling animosity towards one of them and expressed that through fictional characters.
ReplyDeleteJack> Poe may have inserted inbreeding to show that this family was closer to themselves than to anybody else. Because as weird as it is the thing that really put Usher over the edge was the death of his sister. Of all the people in the world Usher is closest to his sister. There weren't any other people even mentioned besides the writer outside of Usher's family.
ReplyDelete@Hannah: Sometimes, when somebody does something or reacts a certain way, it is just a part of their personality. Your personality causes a lot of what you do. I think that his personality may have been a helping cause as to what was done about the situation or the outcome of the story. For example, he fled in the story. How might the outcome had been different if his personality were different? His personality may have wanted him to stick around to see what continued to happen.
ReplyDelete@Kate, I think Poe made Usher and his sister twins, because it adds a sense of unity and showed how connected mentally they really were. It adds to the family's interesting history and past.
ReplyDelete@Rebecca, I think he puts everything about him into this story. When we all found fun facts about him, many of us discovered that his parents died, he was adopted, he didn't get along with his foster father, his brother died, and his sister went insane. These family issues are shown in this story by the way that Usher and Madeline act.
ReplyDeleteClaudia: I think the quote represents hwo one person, action, or thing can have such a huge impact on something else. As soon as one enters Ushers presence and comes in contact with him, his mannerisms and characteristics have a large effect.He influences those around him just by being there. It shows that even the smallest encounter can change a person or cause them to feel a certain way. Poe is telling us about the effect we have on each other.
ReplyDeleteIs there any significance to this being a childhood friend of his or is it just to connect the story?
ReplyDelete@KelsieS- I think that music plays a part in the story, but not as big a part as the story within the story plays or as much as other aspects.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think Poe wanted us to take from this story? Do you think he wanted us to take it as is, or interpret it for something deeper?
ReplyDeleteAfter looking up all of those facts about poe i think that this story may relate a lot to his life. In the story usher's sister madeline became mad, in real life poe's sister became mad. In the story the whole atmosphere of the house is bleak gloomy and really depressing and I think poe thought of his life a bleak gloomy and depressive
ReplyDelete@Kate, but what part does it play? What does it add to the story?
ReplyDeleteMadeline- But marrying a distant cousin would not be a direct line of descent. That would add another branch to the family tree. A direct line of descent would be brother and sister, or twin brother and sister like Madeline and Roderick in The Fall of the House of Usher.
ReplyDeleteWas there another reason that Rodrick buried Madeline in the tomb, besides his assumption that scientists would want to dig her up?
ReplyDelete@HannahRaeLeto - but is it more than just the facts about his life? Is more of his character portrayed in the story?
ReplyDeleteMichaelM> I think that Poe meant for people to find a deeper meaning. This connects to the question Courtney asked earlier “Since this is a famous story, what makes it famous?” and I think he incorporated many things that could be taken deeper but deeper in multiple directions and that is what makes it a famous Literary piece. It can be applied or analyzed however the reader wants to.
ReplyDelete@MadelineJ-The significance of this being a childhood friend of his could simply be to show how much people can change over time and to insert the background knowledge that Usher was not always crazy.
ReplyDeleteIan- Do you think that he took her death so hard because they were married? and if they love each other so much, why did he bury her alive?
ReplyDeleteI think that he put his sister in the tomb because he was having problems of his own and he just wanted to get rid of her. I don't think that he was expecting her to die in there, but rather to escape. Also, I think that he was just genuinely scared and he really didn't know what to do.
ReplyDeleteMadeline: I do not think he was expecting any of this. It is said in the story "Although as boys, we had been even intimate associates, yet I really knew little of my friend. His reserve had always been excessive and habitual." Although they were friends, he did not know much about Usher. From that, he implies that he didn't know any of this happened. Had he known, the outcome of this story potentially could have been very different.
ReplyDelete@Hannah, I think all of Poe's stories represent his life and the events that happened within his life, not just this story, but I do agree with your statement.
ReplyDeleteEmilyB- I think that anyone who was sane would have fled the house at that point. Madeline had just killed Usher and the house itself was "dieing" I don't know if the outcome of the story depended on his personality as much as mental state.
ReplyDelete@stephen- Personally that's the only reason that I would read a story like this for fun...
ReplyDeleteJack-No your right, but it is still part of a family. Which could have just been a different spin on it, or it was just added to the story.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I notice about his writing and the reason that the writing is popular is because h spends most of the story describing just his daily life in the house and the reader is wondering what will happen then it is like some murder mysteries that are so popular today that is the background information in the story is actually the answer to the mystery that the reader has been looking for all along. For example, when they bury her it is just background information about this morbid story but then she comes back at the end of the story completing the plot when the reader had already pushed her out of his train of thought. In other words, the whole time the reader is waiting for the fall but the answer is already in front of the reader but not important enough for the reader to connect the dots.
ReplyDeleteJohn-Michael makes a good point, if everyone is afraid of something, no one talks about it.
ReplyDeleteHannah- I agree. Maybe he wanted a way for people to see what was really going on. kinda like a cry out
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