Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque

worried about their loved ones and frequent death, which call for a word to describe the overall morale - grim. It is a common misconception to believe that the word grim originated from the Brothers Grimm, the authors of coincidentally grim fairy tales that include a lot of death and gruesome endings. However, the surname Grimm and the word grim share similar roots and both originally mean…

Dark Gardens (2016) by Linda Huey is a dramatic and poignant work of sculpture and pottery that presents a bleak warning regarding the environmental consequences of the abuse and misuse of resources to cultivate our modern world. The piece is presented alone in a small brick vaulted chamber in the McCain Family Gallery of the Erie Art Museum. Whether this was the intention of the artist or a happy coincidence of the exhibition, the first steps through the low entryway into the chamber makes one…

In the story, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, written by Edgar Allen Poe, the house inhabited by the Usher family is the main and most important piece of symbolism. The fungus that covers the outside of the house is symbolizing the deterioration of Roderick’s appearance due to his illness. The crack on the outside of the house is symbolizing the “crack” in Roderick’s mental state. The inside of the house is representing that the Usher family has not been able to advance through time because of…

In edgar Allan Poe’s story “The fall of the house of Usher”; The unnamed narrator goes to visit his friend from his childhood. His old friend Roderick has a mental disease where he is very sensitive to light and other things that he senses. His sister also suffers from seizures. They both live together in the house of Usher. The house of Usher is a very creepy mansion that his family passed down over the years. The narrator gets an uneasy just by looking at the house. When he steps inside, he…

Edgar Allen Poe’s short story The “Fall of the House of Usher” was very captivating. Once I began reading the story I couldn’t put the book down till I was done. I believe the protagonist in the story was Roderick Usher. I always assumed a protagonist to be heroic in some way. Roderick Usher’s character, however, was not heroic. Usher was not only a hypochondriac, but he was a mentally and physically sick man. I have no doubt that a lot of his mental and physical maladies sprouted from…

In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the central theme of fear is presented. Fear is an overwhelming force that has disastrous consequences when not overcome. Throughout the story, this theme is developed by the setting of the “mansion of gloom” and by the descriptions of Roderick Usher’s sufferings (294). Roderick is a “bounden slave” of fear and battles with a mysterious illness that may stem from his inbred genes (299). His failure to overcome his fears causes…

“The Fall of the House of Usher” is the story of a sick man whose fears glaring themselves through his heavily attentive family house. The author uses themes of insanity in this because Rodricks intense sensitivity to the light, sound, and reaction result from his psychological illness fairly than a true physical illness. Absurdity and illness is a key symbol in the story of usher, The authors uses it in the story by saying that Roderick seems to be ambushed in his haunted house a…

In Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, the narrator visits his childhood friend Roderick Usher, who has recently fallen ill. The house in which the Ushers reside had a supernatural aspect. J.O. Bailey, author of "CRITICAL READINGS: What Happens in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’?" argues that these supernatural forces have a negative effect on the mental composure of the Ushers and the narrator. In his essay “Poe and the Apocalyptic Sublime: "The Fall of the House of Usher",…

12) One of my group members, Rashmi, seemed to think Gabriel was simply being modest and polite. I however find his statement to be pompous and arrogant. It is quite obvious he thinks rather highly of himself. He knows he is smarter than his audience. He wants them to think that he is so humble when he is actually the opposite. Her perspective makes me contemplate whether Gabriel was ever considerate of others. Did he really care about their feelings? Is that why he made the statement? Some of…

The Fall of a Family In Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, Roderick Usher is reminded of life’s simple enjoyments during a visit with a childhood friend; Roderick realizes the emptiness in his life and his regrettable past. This realization preys heavily on Roderick’s already sickened mind and drives him into a deeper depression. He develops an increasing hatred for his sister Madeline, whose chronic physical illnesses and infertility, becomes, in his mind, the reason for the…