Comparing stories: The fall of the house of Usher and A rose for Emily
In both short stories, "A Rose for Emily" written by William Faulkner" and "The Fall of the House of Usher" written by Edgar Allan Poe, we perceive common themes. The works are portrayed through the eyes of two narrators in first person as the stories unfold. There are many similarities such as themes, gothic genre, lurid tales, as well as death and preservation of a loved one. William Faulkner and Edgar Allan Poe portray their main characters, Roderick Usher in "The Fall of the House of Usher" and Emily Grierson in "A Rose for Emily" using gothic themes setting the mood in the way the houses are depicted. There are morbid and frightening scenarios as in the Usher house which is full of dread and menace due to its dark and gloomy atmosphere which seems connected to the underworld with disease, decay and filled with cobwebs. Faulkner portrays a similar picture in Emily’s house as the narrator describes a crumbling old mansion, as an "eyesore among eyesores, grotesque and full of stench.
The appearance of her home is one of decay and death, which at one point had been decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies. In both stories, the narrators establish an atmosphere of lifelessness and dreariness. In Usher’s house, the building appears as if it were dead with no signs of life or barely life, including Roderick himself who is cadaverousness of complexion. This picture fills the narrator with pity and sorrow towards his old friend. Emily’s house is sort of a monument of the past much like Emily herself who has aged and become grey, alienating herself from society.
The narrator is sympathetic towards Emily, and evokes this feeling through the towns’ people who pity her like when she denies her father’s death. Only after three days is she willing to release the body, refusing to accept the reality of his death, clinging to his lifeless body
driving her more towards insanity. Roderick Usher and Emily Grierson are characterized by lurid tales of insanity and mental challenges that are manifested in their relationships with the ones they love. As the stories evolve, secrets are mysteriously revealed along with supernatural occurrences and death. Emily is clearly a psychic case suffering from mental disorder affected by her father’s controlling attitude, alienating her from the rest of the world. As "none of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such, any possible prospects were scared away. The narrator pities Roderick as he reveals to his friend that his mental collapse is due to his nerves and fear. Roderick is afraid of his own home. He was enchained by certain superstitious impressions in regard to the dwelling which he tenanted. Roderick also reveals his fear for his sister Madeline’s incurable illness associated with schizophrenia, forcing him into seclusion, which he clearly suffered from himself.
The narrator tries to help Usher by reading and painting with him and listening to him play the guitar. Roderick’s state of mind continues to be portrayed even in his morbid music and in his paintings which included scenes of supernatural and horror. Roderick’s most impacting piece was The Haunted Palace" in which he depicts his house before as being glorious and radiant and evil and desolate after. Edgar Allen Poe gives a lot of details in the story to create an atmosphere of horror. Death and preservation are portrayed in both stories. Emily’s character displays mixed emotions of love and hate which have resulted from her domineering father and secluded life-style which threw her off the deep end. Only after her father’s death does she meet a possible suitor, Homer Barron and falls in love. The narrator continues to pity Emily as her chances of marrying Homer decrease as she ages. She eventually poisons Homer with arsenic and keeps his body preserved in an upstairs room which had not been seen in over forty years. It is only after her death that her sealed perimeter is broken down and the grotesque figure seen on the bed. Death and horror hang over Emily.
Death also follows Roderick as he asks his friend to help him bury his sister Madeline in a temporary tomb to avoid her body being dug up for scientific examinations. Roderick’s hysteria continues as he hears sounds haunt him throughout the house. As the narrator, tries to help him by reading Mad Trist by Sir Launcelot Canning, a story written by Poe himself for the story, his friend hears the noises himself. Both men go into frenzy as Roderick reveals that he believes they buried his sister alive. Madeline stands before the men in a bloodied white robe as
if she had been in a struggle trying to escape from the tomb. She attacks her brother while what is left of her life drains, and Roderick is scared to death, as brother and sister die together. As the narrator runs out of the house, the entire house cracks and crumples to the ground putting an end to the House of Usher. Edgar Allen Poe’s "The Fall of the House of Usher" and William Faulkner’s "A Rose for Emily" depict stories of gothic horror full of tragedy, regrets and memories of lurid tales and a struggle of sanity versus insanity of the main characters as presented by the narrators. The relationship of Miss Emily Grierson with her father set the stage for the rise and fall of "A Rose for Emily," as she kills her lover and sleeps with him as if he were alive. Roderick Usher depicts an equally horrific and radical story which haunts him, as he buries his sister alive knowing she is dead, leading to "The Fall of the House of Usher.
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