Edgar Allen Poe and William Faulkner both wrote short stories on crippled minds to show that if bystanders do not do anything, people’s state of being will deteriorate. The idea of insanity and horror was very prominent during this timeframe in which both pieces were written, as the style from the period is called “Gothic Romanticism”. In Poe’s, Fall of the House of Usher, the narrator goes unnamed, as does the narrator in Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily. By doing so, Poe contributes to the idea, that a bystander who does nothing will never be useful. Faulkner’s Emily Grierson and Poe’s Roderick Usher show the dark places of the human mind, which are represented by the scenery which unfold in each story. Both authors also touch upon the idea that
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In Faulkner 's A Rose for Emily, Emily Grierson is attempting to reject the smothering chains of her father after he dies, but she cannot move forward. Her only outcome is an unnatural attachment to her boyfriend, Homer Barron, who tries to leave her, and she ends up killing. Homer Barron’s disappearance does not disturb the neighborhood, a s they were “not surprised when Homer Barron was gone,” (42). Edgar Allen Poe continues this issue through Roderick Usher. Roderick hoped keep his sick sister alive as long as possible and not let her go. He hoped she would recover ,because he was afraid of being the last Usher alive. He felt as though without her, he would have no one left. However, he was unemotional when she ides, and “stated abruptly that Madeleine was no more,” (20). Usher was estranged and persistent upon burying her in the basement instead of in a graveyard. Hi s ideal of having her around forever was an impossible goal which led him to go crazy. The pursuit for ideals was a tragic downfall for both Emily Grierson and Roderick …show more content…
The narrators of both Faulkner 's A Rose for Emily and Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher, were both passive. The narrator in A Rose for Emily says, “we just stood there,’ 54) and did not do anything when Emily Grierson 's father died, but complain about the smell. This same habit is traced to Fall of the house of Usher, where the narrator, after the death of Usher’s sister, insists on reading Usher horror stories inside the house. When the narrator’s should have been helping Usher an Emily Grierson move one, they continued with what they were doing, making no attempt to change their troublesome path. It is this bad choice which holds the authors main theme, in which they conclude that if individuals of society do not help one another, society as a whole will not
In Faulkner 's A Rose for Emily, Emily Grierson is attempting to reject the smothering chains of her father after he dies, but she cannot move forward. Her only outcome is an unnatural attachment to her boyfriend, Homer Barron, who tries to leave her, and she ends up killing. Homer Barron’s disappearance does not disturb the neighborhood, a s they were “not surprised when Homer Barron was gone,” (42). Edgar Allen Poe continues this issue through Roderick Usher. Roderick hoped keep his sick sister alive as long as possible and not let her go. He hoped she would recover ,because he was afraid of being the last Usher alive. He felt as though without her, he would have no one left. However, he was unemotional when she ides, and “stated abruptly that Madeleine was no more,” (20). Usher was estranged and persistent upon burying her in the basement instead of in a graveyard. Hi s ideal of having her around forever was an impossible goal which led him to go crazy. The pursuit for ideals was a tragic downfall for both Emily Grierson and Roderick …show more content…
The narrators of both Faulkner 's A Rose for Emily and Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher, were both passive. The narrator in A Rose for Emily says, “we just stood there,’ 54) and did not do anything when Emily Grierson 's father died, but complain about the smell. This same habit is traced to Fall of the house of Usher, where the narrator, after the death of Usher’s sister, insists on reading Usher horror stories inside the house. When the narrator’s should have been helping Usher an Emily Grierson move one, they continued with what they were doing, making no attempt to change their troublesome path. It is this bad choice which holds the authors main theme, in which they conclude that if individuals of society do not help one another, society as a whole will not