The narrator was manipulated by the by the atmosphere of the house and the state of mind of Roderick Usher. Each quality present in the house and Roderick adds to how the narrator was manipulated. The unsettling factor the house offers makes it easier to get into the narrator’s head since people tend to keep their guard up while in an unsafe environment. Towards the end of the story he began to show signs the of mental instability when he “struggled to reason off the nervousness which had dominion over me”(Poe 489). This nervousness shows that the house and the events that occurred caused him to feel unsafe and paranoid. Roderick’s illness could have made him feel like this since he spent most of his time at the Usher house around Roderick.
