The unnamed narrator in
The Fall of the House of Usher is visiting his childhood friend, Roderick Usher. They haven't seen each other in a long time, but Usher sends a letter to the narrator, explaining he has multiple sclerosis (MS) and wants some company. The narrator feels uneasy of meeting him again, and his suspicions are confirmed when he arrives at Usher's house. The house of Usher intimidates the visitor, but he goes anyway. Usher greets him warmly, and the two of them start talking casually. Then, later in the conversation, Usher mentions that his dear sister, Madeline, has died. Her death was a mystery the doctors never solved. After the narrator and Usher bury Madeline's body, Usher confides that he has felt alone and lost ever since she died. Hoping to comfort his friend, the narrator decides to read him a story. The story has an exciting and adventurous plot, but when the narrator looks up from the story to see what Usher thinks of it, Usher is lying on the ground, going into convulsions. The narrator frantically attempts to talk to his friend, but Usher continues mumbling to himself. Usher's ramblings make no sense, until at the end he sits up rigidly and proclaims that Madeline is standing out in the doorway. The narrator looks up, and sees Madeline, the girl they just buried, in the doorway. Frightened, the narrator flees from the House of Usher, hoping to never return again.
Edgar Allan Poe believed that all writing should follow a systematic order, and yet still invoke a emotion. He demonstrates this in his poem "The Raven." The small events in the poem become part of a larger and more passionate story about the main character and the woman he loved, Lenore. Jonathan Edwards writes in a similar way in his famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." It explains that sinners have no hope in detailed phrases, and all connect to an emotional "bigger picture" argument. It is for this reason that Poe and Edwards write such compelling works of literature- their work has a clear message with a clear call to action. Edwards invites us to take responsibility for our sins, and to have hope in a merciful, gracious God. Poe wants us to see that our fears, desires, and emotions come from the most sensitive and most subjective part of us: the mind.
