Arguably one of the most influential writers in American history is Edgar Allan Poe. Works such as Fall of the House of Usher, in which a man goes to assist an ill friend and his sister only to find them both beyond help, and The Raven, in which a man realizes he will never see his lover again, are texts that are highly reliant on the setting in which they take place. The dark and gloomy scene in both texts contributes to the plot significantly. The morbidity of each text is emphasized by the role of the time of night in which they take place. Overall, Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher and The Raven are highly influenced by setting, as they both include a common thread of death, a sense of hopelessness, and the characterization of the narrator in both settings.
Poe uses setting to develop the theme of death into a main plot point in both Usher and Raven. In both cases, death plays a significant role. For example, within Usher, the grand family of …show more content…
In The Raven, Poe even makes the Raven itself seem to be a lonely, hopeless traveler. In order to emphasize such a feeling, Pe states, “But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only/That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.” (Poe, Raven 314) In the setting presented, the raven is seen as a lone traveler. It is one who goes about with no purpose other than to articulate the only word it ever speaks, “nevermore”.SImilarly, near the end of Usher, after the final two members of the house of Usher have died and the house itself has collapsed, the narrator stands alone. a he contemplates what he has just seen, he says, “...and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of ‘the House of Usher.’” (Poe, Usher 310) After the house collapses, the narrator is left standing alone, surrounded by the fragments of what used to
Poe uses setting to develop the theme of death into a main plot point in both Usher and Raven. In both cases, death plays a significant role. For example, within Usher, the grand family of …show more content…
In The Raven, Poe even makes the Raven itself seem to be a lonely, hopeless traveler. In order to emphasize such a feeling, Pe states, “But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only/That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.” (Poe, Raven 314) In the setting presented, the raven is seen as a lone traveler. It is one who goes about with no purpose other than to articulate the only word it ever speaks, “nevermore”.SImilarly, near the end of Usher, after the final two members of the house of Usher have died and the house itself has collapsed, the narrator stands alone. a he contemplates what he has just seen, he says, “...and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of ‘the House of Usher.’” (Poe, Usher 310) After the house collapses, the narrator is left standing alone, surrounded by the fragments of what used to