The Fall of the House of Usher - 鍾錦樑

The Fall of the House of Usher is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe, and it sees from the first point of view, the Narrator. The Narrator surprisingly got a letter from his boyhood mate, Roderick Usher, invited him to accompany him. As the Narrator arrived the House, strange things started to creep out. Roderick's sister Madeline was severely sick and died at the first few days of the Narrator's visit. Soon he found out Roderick was suffering from unknown mental illness. After buried Madeline in the family vault under the House. Roderick kept fearing that they buried her alive. One day, when the Narrator tried to read a story to calm Roderick, spooky noises echoed around the House and push the whole storyline to the climax. They were horrified to see Madeline stood there at the threshold, with a freshly bloodied white gown. She cried and rushed toward her brother and then the Narrator saw two corpses on the ground. He dashed out the House and witnessed the House felt apart and devoured by the tarn.

After reading Poe's works, I fall in love with his delicate depictions of human mental process, mostly madness. The horror elements in his stories are mysterious and fascinating. We can never tell what is actually right but everyone can have his own interpretation. In this one, Poe uses mirror to create the ambiguity between life and death, sanity and madness, man and woman. When Madeline was alive, the description was ghost-like. After Madeline was dead, the description became vividly alive. It seems like death brought her strength to fight back. And the Narrator entered the House with awe as well as fear. Roderick's illness somehow frightened him as well as inspire him. Maybe the Narrator was undergoing psychological change. I cannot tell whether he was mad or not. It has many possibilities await to be uncovered. As twins, the Roderick and Madeline somehow shared a connection, both alike and different. Roderick's self-fulfilling prophecy gave Madeline the power to break the tomb. They cannot be separated as individuals. The traditional identity of man and woman chained both of them. Roderick was talented while Madeline was weak and self-closing.

At the same time, the title can refer to the actual collapse of the House and also the “fall” means the fall to the evil. In the middle of the story, a verse called “The Haunted Palace” indicated the evil things penetrated the palace like a ghastly river. And the king – Thought was decayed by the evil. The final story which the Narrator told Roderick was a foreshadow of the ending. The fall of the shield refers to the fall of the House. Poe's depiction foreshadowed the fate of the House and the people who lived in. He created dreary but interesting elements to support his story. Although many critics criticize Poe's similarity plot designs in every work but still, he is one of the greatest American writer in history. Poe opened a window to the dark but he didn't block the light. He left us to explore its wonders.