Essay Poe

   The short stories of The Fall of the House of Usher and A Rose for Emily are very intriguing. Although they both have different developments in their respected stories, they bring a couple similarities. The author of The Fall of the House of Usher is Edgar Allan Poe, a very recognize magazine editor, poet, short story writer, critic and lecturer. In contrast to The Fall of the House of Usher, A Rose for Emily’s author is William Faulkner. William Faulkner earned his popularity by writing novels. They both had a similarity in the way they wrote. The similarity could be seen in their way of expressing each and every detail. The feeling when you read these two short stories is like if you are living it while you read it.

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” are two examples of Gothic literature. There are many characteristics of Gothic literature ghostly settings, glumness, and evil predominant over good. All of these traits exist in both stories. Gothic literature was more often than not set in an old building, house, or castle that depicted human decomposition, which formed a feeling of unknown and apprehension. William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily", and Edgar Allen Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher", both use gothic elements of technique in relating the exterior in order to reflect the grimness these characters feel. The main characters of both stories, Emily, and Roderick both attribute similar characteristics since both stories are of similar Gothic literature. Although both main character deal with Gothic storyline and death there is a lot that the two do not have in common. The title "The Fall of the House of Usher" not only pertains to the collapse of the mansion but also to the lingering family members living within the building, and in this case mirrors the characteristics of Roderick. "The Fall of the House of Usher," starts off on a "...dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year...." The reader right off the bat is attentive of the grim sense of fester and death. Roderick's childhood friend (the narrator) explains, "a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded spirit" as he came closer to the house. Many similarities link the character to the physical attributes of the gothic house throughout the story. On the other hand Emily, in “A Rose for Emily” had a “big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street.