Essay: The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe

In Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, the narrator of the story is an equivocal character. The inability to identify him creates a personal bond between the reader and narrator. As an unidentified speaker, his effectiveness is exposed through the ability to share the story and allow the audience to be part of the short story and have a personal relation with the Ushers.
The story begins with the narrator traveling by horseback on his way to see an old friend. He introduces the story with a rather dark setting, alone in the woods and with a slight glimpse of the house of Usher. It is spoken through first person and a untampered lens. Readers do not have any knowledge of who he is and no reason not to believe him. “I looked upon the scene before me—upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain— upon the bleak walls—upon the vacant eye-like windows (Poe 3)”. The narrator’s depiction of the setting creates a feeling of being in the story, as if the audience was now the narrator. The use of “I” and then describing the scene simply creates an image for one. The simplicity of the first person in this line presents an “upclose” experience and emphasizes the dark and gloomy setting. The narrator in this line is able to tell the audience what the house truly looks like without saying too much or making it implausible. The simple and life-like description in first person creates a strong impact for the reader feeling like they are really there.
As the story advances, the readers become closer to the Usher’s. The narrator enables one to have a “friendship”, in the means of being in the speaker’s perspective. The unrecognized speaker elaborates the new relationship by writing using a person to person style, meaning the characters are interacting with each other; coexisting. The capacity to understand stories is quite difficult but with the speakers close perspective style it brings you closer and allow for an easier understanding. When the narrator is at the house, he is reunited with his boyhood friend and Roderick Usher is eager to catch up. “It was thus that he spoke of the object of my visit, of his earnest desire to see me, and of the solace he expected me to afford him (Poe 9)”. The use of “me” and “earnest desire” take one even closer than before, it is in human nature to be wanted or desired which exhibits the obvious connection between the reader and Roderick.With the use of personal monologue, line takes a step towards friendship rather than just a storytelling. In addition when he expects him to afford him, it plays with personal interaction and emotion that the reader can feel.
Poe’s use of a short story without a known narrator creates a drastic effect from the way he uses an up close experience through the writing. The effectiveness was clearly stated through his realistic depictions and human interactions that were shown through the language. With Poe’s ability to show so much with an unknown, it made the unique perspective effective and provide a distinctive ideal for the story.