Roderick in “The Fall of the House
of Usher” allowed himself to fall victim to his own mind, allowing
it to haunt him. His continually deteriorating condition was not
mirrored by the physical appearance of the house; rather, he himself
mirrored the house. That is, the house did not mirror Roderick but
instead Roderick mirrored the house.
The house is described as being a 'mansion of gloom' and dilapidated. The building itself is described as beginning to crumble. It is overgrown with weeds and decaying, with a fissure running down the center of it.
Similarly, Roderick is described as looking broken and sickly. He is very pale, almost 'cadaverous' looking, and even his hair is untamed.
The house is described as being a 'mansion of gloom' and dilapidated. The building itself is described as beginning to crumble. It is overgrown with weeds and decaying, with a fissure running down the center of it.
Similarly, Roderick is described as looking broken and sickly. He is very pale, almost 'cadaverous' looking, and even his hair is untamed.
It was put into Roderick's mind early
on that he was under a curse. Regardless to whether there was a curse
or not, Roderick allowed this concept to follow him throughout his
daily life – to haunt him. Roderick allowed the idea of his
ultimate fate to eventually consume him, and instead of succumbing to
his fate, in the end he succumbed to his own mind.
In losing sight of reality and
allowing his judgment to be clouded by the idea of a curse, Roderick
slowly allowed himself to lose to the depth's of his own mind. While
he knew his sister had a medical condition, he had, by the time of
the narrator's arrival, convinced himself that his end was drawing
near. Because of this, he chose to bury his sister alive, without
regard to whether she was actually dead. However, a part of Roderick
knew that he may have been mistaken, and that part only fueled his
decline further.
His mind became more and more muddled
with the idea that his sister may be alive and the noises he was
hearing that proved she was. Roderick did not; however, allow the
thought that his sister may still be alive to overwhelm him, and, in
the end, did not go to check as to whether this was the case or not.
The sounds and thoughts about his sister haunted Roderick, but only
because he allowed them to do so.
In this way, it is Roderick who is allowing himself to mirror the house, rather than the house mirroring him. He allows outside influences to eat away at his mental state and, eventually, succumbs to it. His lack of strength as a character allows him to fall victim not to the house, but to his own deluded ideas about the house and the curse surrounding it and his family. Roderick is a character who is manipulated and changed by the ideas of what is around him, rather than having his own strength of mind to overcome the obsticles thrown in his way.
In this way, it is Roderick who is allowing himself to mirror the house, rather than the house mirroring him. He allows outside influences to eat away at his mental state and, eventually, succumbs to it. His lack of strength as a character allows him to fall victim not to the house, but to his own deluded ideas about the house and the curse surrounding it and his family. Roderick is a character who is manipulated and changed by the ideas of what is around him, rather than having his own strength of mind to overcome the obsticles thrown in his way.
Finally, Roderick fell to his own
haunting. It was not the house that haunted him, although it's
condition may have provoked him into thinking it was, but instead it
was Roderick's own mind and perceptions that haunted himself. It was
not the house that caused Roderick to prematurely bury his sister, it
was Roderick who did so. Roderick, who's mind was caught on the idea
that he was doomed from the beginning, brought about his own fate.
And, in the final scenes of the story, Roderick falls victim to his
mind in one final instance. His sister, who was not dead, finally
escaped her tomb and gave Roderick what his mind had been trying
desperately to create until that point – A ghost. Although she was
not actually dead, Roderick's fright upon thinking she was a ghost
brought about his own demise, followed shortly thereafter by his
starved and suffering sister.
Carter,
ReplyDeleteI agree with some of your thoughts about Roderick's haunting! After reading Fall of the House of Usher, I concluded that Madeline did not exist in the flesh. She was a spiritual representation of the other half of Roderick’s personality. Roderick as a character is split, much like the house, and cannot stay standing with such an oppressive crack. Thus he fell to the other half of his mind and created a haunting.
I agree that Roderick, not the house, created the haunting. Does this mean you believe the story would still be the same if it was in a brand new house?
Hey Carter!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you (and Lori!) about Roderick being the reason behind the haunting! However, I think we could take it a step further... Could Madeline be more than a figment (that is, more than just imagination). Could she symbolize the fear within the mind? She does create a sense of hallucination for Roderick, which in one psychological effect from fear... The irrational, premature burial of Madeline can also signify what happens when fears are left unconqured, and the lengths people will go to try and conquer it.
I also think that this could be a tale about responsibility. Roderick never takes responsibility for his actions, and always tried to blame the house. Could we ask ourselves if... It is our responsibility to conquer (or at least control) our fears... and if we don't, there is the ultimate consequence?
Wow! You all have really interesting ideas about what really went on in Roderick's mind.
ReplyDeleteFear or guilt has a unique way of manifesting itself in different people. From what I understood and analyzed from “The Fall of the House of Usher,” I agree with Carter that his mind is basically what drove him insane. Taking it a step further, seed planted in his mind that the Usher family has a malady past down from one generation to the next and the guilt for burying his sister alive are the two crucial things that killed him.
Also, interestingly, the narrator was lucky (or unlucky, you choose) that he caught Roderick and Madeline in their dying days. This might be a tangent from your original point but it’s a very interesting question that can probably be answered in several different ways. The narrator decided to enter such a gloomy home and stayed knowling well that Roderick was mentally afflicted. And going along with Lori’s suggestion that Madeline was a figment of Roderick’s personality, then how would the narrator, a supposed third-party member, see and interact with Madeline. Was the narrator an element in Roderick’s mental malady?