Symbolism in Edgar Allen Poe's

To create a classical gothic story , a writer should operate a whole set of conventional elements , like the proper imagery , plot , setting as well as expressive language means . But knowing conventions is not enough . It takes real mastery to sense the living tissue of the story , to manipulate the readers ' mind and to create immense suspense by scrupulously threading scenery s . Edgar Alan Poe 's story The Fall of the House of Usher ' meets these requirements leaving space to both accurate analysis and emotional involvement

Starting to look closely at the means

the author resorts to , it is necessary to state that the involvement arises from several essential layers of the narration , including the unfolding of the plot itself Moreover , the plot also splits into several levels duplicating and reflecting each other . It is not only the choice of words that creates the atmosphere of horror but also the structure of narration , which is profoundly broken and interrupted . The slow melancholic running of narration at the beginning reflects Roderick 's hypochondria and the narrator 's attempt to keep his composure . In the course of the story the consequence breaks , so that it is hard to establish missing links between events . The irrational nightmare component becomes even more evident . Traditional logic concept of reality is blurred so that it is no longer surprising to find contradictory facts . For example , why is it that the narrator knows nothing about his most intimate friend ? Why doesn 't he understand at once that Roderick and his moribund sister Madeline are twins ? But within the context of the story logical explanation seems to be irrelevant . As we can see , the events balance between dream and reality . To support this bline character of the plot outline , the author pays much attention to appropriate setting . It wouldn 't be overstatement to say that the bulk of the story is the background - vital background- to the unfolding events . It refers to the setting , which is crucial to creating the spooky atmosphere . Typical for gothic literature , Poe doesn 't provide exact markers of space and time The solemn murky landscape and morbidly gloomy house , haze and the atmosphere of rot and decay - that 's what we have as a setting . The narrator confesses how much he is overwhelmed by his imagination . I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow . An air of stern , deep and irredeemable gloom hung over and pervaded all

Besides ambiguity and vagueness , which contribute to creating the effect of a dream , the device of mirroring is worth special attention because it is the main means the author resorts to at all levels of the narration . At the most general level , the level of plot structure , the approach is manifested in foreshadowing of events by incorporating another story in the frame of the current one , in case with The Fall of the House of Usher ' it is "Mad Twist " of Sir Launcelot Canning which the character reads . The same is true about the lyrics...