The books that Usher adores are in keeping with this superstition. Usher’s favorite is a manual of a forgotten church The narrator considers the rituals described in this text to have aggravated Usher’s state of mind. One evening,
while they are engaged in reading, Usher suddenly tells the narrator that Madeleine has died and it is his plan to keep her body preserved fora fortnight in one of the house’s vaults. The narrator, remembering the feeling of doom that
her presence had caused him, understands that this might be a wise move.
Her illness was so strange that the physicians would want to investigate her body before taking her out to the open air to the family burial ground.
Literature is an important feature of this narrative and severalothers of Poe’s collection, like Ligeia. It serves the mystery andhorror of the story in several ways. For example, by creating anotherworld, a literary world, into which we delve every so often, Poeincreases the sense that Usher’s world in the real
one. It also givesus an idea of Usher’s impressionable mind, which is worsened by thesecrecy and airlessness of the house and his inability to movebeyond the house, even when his sister has passed away.As Usher’s closest companion now, the narrator of "House of
Usher" helps him to move the lady’s coffin into the dark, musty vault. This particular room is directly underneath the narrator’s sleeping quarters, and historically, was used to store explosive powder and so the interior is completely coated in copper and has a massive copper door.
The narrator deliberately provides these particular details that givean impression of the vault as an impenetrable fortress, so that it canonly be a paranormal, spiritual being that would be able to escape it.When they have placed the coffin, they remove the lid and the narrator of "House of Usher" is surprised to find a striking resemblance between the sister and brother. Usher tells him that they were twins, and shared a bond that can’t be comprehended from the outside. But they don’t
look for long atMadeleine’s body. Death has put an unnatural blush on her cheeks that is awful to behold. They shut up the vault and return to the upper floors.
Usher and Madeleine are something more than twins, they arehalves of the same person – so to find out this doubleness at themoment of entombing Madeleine gives an added punch to the sightof the body and implies that Usher’s grief will be more complicatedthan first thought.After
this deed is done, Usher’s mood changes. He spends all his time wandering, purposeless. His paleness is even worse and his voice takes on a permanently terrified tone. It often seems to the narrator of "House of Usher" that Usher is burdened with a terrible secret that he wishes to tell. He also hears imaginary sounds and the narrator often finds him staring vacantly ahead.
Now separated from his sister, Usher is diminished, he is unable toconcentrate and unable to free himself from his lingering fears andsuperstitions. It is as if their bodily connection has continued afterdeath, and that Madeleine’s descent into the tomb and into adecomposing state is pulling Usher in the same direction.The mood is so overpowering that the narrator of "House of
Usher" finds himself changing a little too. He feels this way especially one night about a week after they have entombed
Madeleine, when he goes to bed and cannot sleep. He tries to believe that it is just the gloomy room and the swaying of the draperies that makes him feel like this, but he starts to shake with fright and, sitting up, has the
urge to peer into the darkness, and he hears some low sounds that don’t belong to the storm outside. Fear comes over him and he gets out of bed and paces around.
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