Many american Gothic Literature authors feature characters that descend into insanity within their stories. For instance, in Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories, characters are driven into madness as a result of solitude. Poe’s stories reflect on his own life feelings and experiences of isolation and loneliness he dealt with. He never knew his birth parents and he experienced neglect from his adoptive parents. When facing loneliness, Poe’s characters become driven into a state of insanity. This descent into madness is far quicker than any other characters in most gothic literature written. Several of Poe’s short stories that feature this plot line include, “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”. The protagonist Roderick Usher,
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Furthermore, Poe creates characters that are in seclusion, leading them to make gruesome mistakes that are influenced by madness. In Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher”, the protagonist Roderick Usher lives alone with his twin sister, Madeline, who suffers from an illness which prevents her from being able to control her body. She is not helpful in interacting with her brother who is generally lonely, yet regardless he loves her. This lack of a bond makes him feel even more alone in the house. In the story the unnamed narrator, a childhood friend of Roderick, visits the Usher’s home where he immediately notices that Roderick has changed from the time when they were young. The narrator learned more about Roderick’s condition after learning more about His condition the narrator comments on his current …show more content…
Alone when he is driven into madness because the guilt catches up to him. The narrator loves the old man however his mental state is not well because he disliked the eye The narrator becomes so infatuated with the eye that he states, “I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever” (Tell 1). The narrator is willing to take the life of the old man whom he loved just so he wouldn 't have to view the eye ever again. The narrator is incapable of handling himself in this event proving this by, “And this I did for seven long nights--every night just at midnight --but I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye”(Tell
Furthermore, Poe creates characters that are in seclusion, leading them to make gruesome mistakes that are influenced by madness. In Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher”, the protagonist Roderick Usher lives alone with his twin sister, Madeline, who suffers from an illness which prevents her from being able to control her body. She is not helpful in interacting with her brother who is generally lonely, yet regardless he loves her. This lack of a bond makes him feel even more alone in the house. In the story the unnamed narrator, a childhood friend of Roderick, visits the Usher’s home where he immediately notices that Roderick has changed from the time when they were young. The narrator learned more about Roderick’s condition after learning more about His condition the narrator comments on his current …show more content…
Alone when he is driven into madness because the guilt catches up to him. The narrator loves the old man however his mental state is not well because he disliked the eye The narrator becomes so infatuated with the eye that he states, “I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever” (Tell 1). The narrator is willing to take the life of the old man whom he loved just so he wouldn 't have to view the eye ever again. The narrator is incapable of handling himself in this event proving this by, “And this I did for seven long nights--every night just at midnight --but I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye”(Tell