The Fall of the House of Usher

The Fall of the House of Usher is based on the relationship between the mental and the physical. The mental aspect deals with the affect caused by the physical surroundings. As the reader follows the story, this relationship becomes more concrete. The author uses different approaches to show the reader the relationship between the two and how it affects Usher. The use of imagery and other literary tools helps to give a clear picture, in the reader’s head, of the mansion physical presence and Usher’s mental state.

The narrator and Usher follow the same train of thought after reading the “The Haunted Palace”. As Usher starts to give his opinion on the subject, it becomes clear that his mental state is declining. This is evident when the narrator reiterates what Usher is explaining to him, to the reader, saying “I lack words to express the full extent, or the earnest abandon of his persuasion. The belief, however, was connected (as I have previously hinted) with the gray stones of the home of his forefathers.” This quote shows the connection between the physical state of the Usher mansion and Usher’s mental state. Usher is like the gray stones in that are starting to crumble and fall apart. His features like those of the stones are no longer the way they once were. Fungi which overspread the stones is like the hair upon Usher’s head that was once web-like soft but is now unheeded with a gossamer texture and floats, rather than falling around his face. His mood and behavior coincide with the dreary demeanor of the mansion also helping to display how the physical aspect of the house and grounds affects Usher’s mental state.

Usher talks of the decayed trees standing around and the fungi covering the stones, of how this arrangement has gone undisturbed for some time and the reduplication of it all in the tarn. Usher states that this is evidence of the sentience. This is the evidence that shows Usher’s belief in the sentience of vegetable things. Usher seems to have the belief that vegetable things at the mansion are conscious and take on the role of characters that have an influence on him. It also means that Usher understands the person that he has become even though he is a bit eccentric. When Usher talks about the undisturbed endurance of the arrangement, he states that the mansion has been in the same condition for years and the influence that has developed over time, has molded the destinies of his family and of himself meaning that all of those factors made up who he was.

The mansion plays a key role in the relationship between the mental and the physical. As the