The Fall of the House of Usher

Simone Sutton

10/06/09

AP English III

“The Fall of the House of Usher”

The unnamed protagonist of this story is going to see his sick friend who has requested that he come see him. The protagonist then makes a trip through the “dull, dark and soundless day of the year” to see his childhood friend, who is of the ancient Usher family. Upon reaching the house he is filled with a sense of foreboding. ” I know not what it was but with the first glimpse of the building a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit”. His unease comes from the sight of the building. It causes him to feel such strong feelings, yet he does not turn away. The House of Usher is literally the house in which the Usher family lives. If this is true then, feelings of the outside of the house tells something about the family that lives in it

Roderick Usher, the childhood friend of the protagonist, has asked him to visit him to ease the pain from his sickness. But it’s not just a bodily sickness, but also a mental illness he suffers from. “Although, as boys, we had been even intimate associated, yet I really knew very little of my friend.” The protagonist only goes to see his friend because they were childhood friends. He knows nothing else about his friend other than bits of his family history. This situation brings an air of mystery. Giving the Usher little background information and making him into an anomaly. Since we know nothing about him we don’t know what he is capable of.