Edgar Allan Poe Essay

Nicole Zambrana                                                                                                              May 16, 2016

845-15-9828                                                                                                      Mrs. Helvia Guzmán

A comparative essay on:

“The Fall of the House of Usher” and “A Rose for Emily”

By Edgar Allan Poe                                       By William Faulkner

                        In the last couple of weeks we have read two gothic style stories, one by Edgar Allan Poe (the father of gothic style) and another one by William Faulkner. “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Poe’s story, embarks on the tell of a main protagonist of which we never know the real identity and only the fact that he is a childhood friend of Roderick Usher, whom alongside his sister was the last of kin in the Usher line. Both of them suffer from extreme mental illnesses; while Usher suffers from paranoia and sensitivity to sounds and light, his sister, Madeline, suffers from epileptic attacks. Roderick, in his mental state, has developed a fear to his surroundings, including fear toward his sister’s condition (which meant she may die at any time and leave him alone). As the story develops and advances, the tension in the mansion grows and mysterious gloom in the atmosphere does not only influence our main character but us, the readers, as well. Eventually, at the climax, we find out Usher buried his sister alive, as she kills him and the mansion crumbles upon itself; all the while the protagonist flees. Symbolism to the end of the Usher family and estate.

                         On the other hand, Faulkner’s story, “A Rose for Emily” has another take in gothic style. William develops a tale of southern town with mysteries tangled with social problems such as racism. In here our narrator, also unknown, tells us the story of Emily, a prominent white women living a southern town called Jefferson, her dad Sanders raises her in a controlled environment. Her father does not permit her to socialize as a young women would prefer and he turns away all her suitors, proclaiming they are not good enough for his daughter. After his death, Emily is thirty and still unmarried, which brings the town reason to gossip and pity her. Emily, due to her upbringing, becomes a mysterious women and does not socialize apart from an art class she gave to young girls from the town. Sometimes after her father passes away, she meets a newcomer; from upstate no less, Homer Barron. Barron is a black man who works in construction and is always at the middle of the attention and laughter. Emily begins to see him on Sundays and the won, gossipers as they are, do not approve of a white women being seen in public with a black man. Eventually, as the action rises, we begin to suspect on Emily and once she dies we, the reader, as the other characters of the town discover Homer’s decaying body inside Emily’s mansion.

                     It is clearly shown the gothic style inside these two stories, both possess an eerie and mysterious mood throughout the storytelling and an atmosphere which eights upon the reader. Both of our narrators are unidentified and the character upon which the action surrounds serves as our antagonist. They both commit unspeakable acts due to their mental illnesses, of which we can conclude are effects of their upbringing. Although, in Faulkner’s story we can pinpoint better the social issues represented in the conflicts of the story, both maintain a similar raise of action and climax and both conclude with the death of the antagonist characters. In each story we can see a character that represent loyalty toward Usher and Emily, which are the servants. On both our antagonist’s fears and hopes are represented as a character, for Usher he feared the loneliness his sister’s death would bring upon him and later he feared her revenge and hatred towards him after he buried her alive; but as they were twins he also loved her above everything else and he wished for her and her health so she could be with him. In that same way, we see Emily’s wishes and fears represented in Barron, as he is what she has wished her entire life, the freedom, the idea of love, the ability to socialize, but also the disapproval of her father she craves so much and knows she won’t be able to get if she married Homer. In both tales we see society play a role on the story telling. In Allan’s story, the protagonist recalls what the town used to say about the Usher family, how they were respected but also pitied and feared, for they only had a direct line and they all suffered from mental illnesses. Meanwhile, Faulkner’s uses the society’s character more openly for the conflict of race and reputation the southern areas are commonly known for. Both are beautifully written with exquisite use of languages and descriptions mixed with imagery. Personally, I enjoyed both equally but for different reasons, Faulkner’s tell had a social conflict at the center of the action while Poe’s incredible writing can leave you speechless and gloomy and affected by the end of his story.