ESSAY POE

Reitchell G. Ramos Pérez                INGL 3221 – L03

Comparison essay of "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "A Rose for Emily".



            Throughout the years many writers of stories and poems have existed. Some of them really important that made a change in the history of the English literature. Some of these important authors are Edgar Allan Poe, a very recognize magazine editor, poet, short story writer, critic and lecturer, and William Faulkner, an author that earned his popularity by writing novels. “The Fall of the House of Usher was written” by Poe while “A Rose for Emily” was written by Faulkner. This short stories are very fascinating. Even though they both have different developments, they bring a couple similarities.

            They both had a similarity in the way they wrote, making you feel like if you’re living the story when you read them. In both short stories, “A Rose for Emily” and "The Fall of the House of Usher”, we can see common themes. The principal similarity of these stories is the gothic theme. The works are narrated by two persons that are part of the stories making the point of view in first person. Edgar Allen Poe and William Faulkner give a lot of details in the story to create an atmosphere of lifelessness and dreadness. In “The Fall of the House of Usher” the narrator is the friend that went and stayed with Usher while in “A Rose for Emily” narrator can be someone of the town. Another similarity is that they both are gothic genre, shocking tales, as well as death and preservation of a loved one. The setting of both stories start with a crumbling old home, a mansion in “The Fall of the House of Usher” and a house in “A Rose for Emily”, that have a scary, gloomy aura around it. Roderick Usher and Emily Grierson, both are principle characters of the each and one story. They are characterized by being insane and by having mental problems that made them change in their relationships with the ones they love. In both stories existed pity, from the narrator to Roderick and from the town to Emily. As both of the stories continues, secrets are revealed along with supernatural occurrences, death and killing of people. They have horrible endings.

Even though they are similar, both stories have differences too. One of the difference of the stories is that Emily’s sickness is affected by her father’s controlling and protecting her from the outside world. In “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Roderick has mental collapse due to his nerves and fear; fear of his own home and of his sister Madeline’s schizophrenia. In the story of “A Rose for Emily”, Emily’s characterized by always needing someone to love or to have by her side, first was her father, but after his dead she needed a replacement, that’s were Homer appears and well, stays. The ways of killing or trying to kill are different. In “A Rose for Emily”, Emily poisoned Homer and in “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Roderick, with the help of the narrator, unconsciously, buried his twin-sister alive. Another difference is that in “A Rose for Emily”, the town people don’t know anything of what happened inside the house or with Homer until the death of Emily, that’s when they discover the body of Homer. In “The Fall of the House of Usher”, the narrator saw how both, the twins and the house, disappeared, sank in the exact moment he leaved the mansion throughout a mysterious, horrible storm. Another difference is that the story, “A Rose for Emily”, is divided in five parts and it starts with the present of what was happening after Emily’s death and in the second part the narrator describes, thirty years earlier, then what happened in her life and the story ends with what is happening in the present time. “The Fall of the House of Usher” is not divided and starts since the narrator arrives until he leaves the house.

            I really loved both stories and enjoyed reading them. The mystery, suspense and the gothic theme is my thing, plus the supernatural one. Comparing them made me realize how similar but different they’re at the same time. I loved how they made you feel what the narrator was feeling just by reading. Although both of them are short they are complete stories. I want to read more of them, especially from Poe.