ESSAY POE

There are many characteristics of Gothic literature unnatural settings, pessimism, and evil prevalent over good. All of these traits exist in both stories. The main characters of both stories, Roderick Usher and Emily Grierson, feature similar traits since both are of similar style. These two stories has its own plot but there are several points that they can be much alike. The little things that can be overlooked are the ones that make the biggest connections between these two.

The point of view, for example, is in first person in both stories that gives the reader a little suspense and puts him in the same perspective of the townspeople or the friend. Also the setting in these stories are very dark, mysterious and full of history inside each house. The main character of each story, Usher and Emily, are the last member of a very rich and popular family, both have a level of mental illness and are very apart from the outside world. There’s a big symbolism in the appearance of the houses, both are very old and just about to crumble. This represents the decay of the families and how is moving towards the end. Finally, both stories end with the death of the protagonist. Each house had a reflection of the protagonist feelings. In “the fall of the house of Usher” the house is falling to pieces just like himself because of his illness. On the other hand, in “A rose for Emily”, the house is the mirror of her feelings, she doesn’t care about anything anymore.

It’s so fascinating how two complete different stories can have so much in common. In conclusion, though there are many similarities between Roderick and Emily, there are many, if not more differences between the two characters. One example of a similarity is that both deal with death, though even that is a difference because she murders while he accidentally buries someone alive. Also, they have differences in insanity level and, Roderick is remorseful while Emily is not. Therefore, even though the style of the two stories is the same, Gothic, both characters, though following Gothic characteristics, are very different.