Figures of speech in The Fall of the House of Usher -- Essays Papers

Figures of speech in The Fall of the Ho physical exercise of UsherEdgar Allen Poes short story, The Fall of the House of Usher, sets a tone that is dark, gloomy, and threatening. His cellular inclusion of highly descriptive words and various forms of figurative language intensify the storys evil nature, giving the field and its inhabitants eerie and miraculous qualities. Poes effective use of personification, symbolism, foreshadowing, and doubling create a pathologic tale leading to, and ultimately causing, the fall of (the support of) Usher. Poes use of personification, the act of giving human characteristics to nonhuman things, assigns the house of Usher a powerful and evil presence. In the first paragraph of the story, the narrator describes the house as having vacant eye-like windows. He uses this description twice first to extract that the house has seen everything that has led to the fall of Usher, and again to emphasize the unidentified put-on of the house. The narrator also describes his negative reaction to the house as a hideous dropping off of the veil. This statement describes what the house has revealed to the narrator, a disgusting and disappointing appearance. Poe also uses symbolism to compare the deterioration of the house to the fall of the Usher dynasty. In Rodericks poem, The Haunted Palace, he describes the history of the house as it began as a strong and bright palace, which over time became a decrepit, disease-ridden cage. The radiant palace repres...