Compare & Contrast Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell Tale Heart and The Fall Essay

Compare & Contrast Edgar Allen Poes The Tell Tale Heart and The Fall of the House of Usher - Essay patternfound myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was - but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I looked upon the scene before me - upon the mere rear, and the simple landscape features of the domain - upon the bleak walls - upon the vacant centre of attention-like windows - upon a few lay out sedges - and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees (Baym/Poe, 1553)Against this gloomy background we are introduced to the narrator who remains nameless as is the narrator in The Tell-Tale Heart. In typical Gothic fashion The Fall of the House of Ushers narrator introduces a striking contrast. He is about to enter the gloomy house with a view to bringing some cheer to his friend, Roderick Ushers melancholic mood. (Byam/Poe, 1553) True to Gothic form Poe has succeed ed in introducing us to a imperceptible element. This is a subliminal element in that the reader will not hesitate to latch onto as a false sense of security, expecting brightness and a cure to the malady afflicting Roderick Usher. This is a typical technique of Gothic writers. (Punter, 116)The Gothic element of fear is set up in a different charge in The Tell-Tale Heart. The narrator first introduces us to fear that has been instilled in him as a result of the physical condition of an old mans eye which he described asOne of his eyes resembled that of a vulture -- a pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it set down upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever.(Baym/Poe, 1589) some(prenominal) tales describe madness in a similar nature. Although in The Fall of the House of Usher, madness is viewed as a malady to be cured magical spell in The Tell-Tale Heart madness i s viewed with optimism. Usher who is a hypochondriac complains of having an over sensitivity to sight and sound