In this short essay we would like to briefly describe two short stories form Edgar Allan Poe and Sherwood Anderson. First we will write something about the content and then a short analysis of each essay will follow. We don’t expect this essay to discuss this topic definitely. We will not be able to catch all the details in these two short stories. The aim of this essay is only to try to catch the main meaning and some formal aspects in them.
We will start with the story of Edgar Allan Poe - The fall of the house of Usher. The story is describing a man who is going on a horse to visit his old friend Roderick Usher, who is ill. The man received a letter in which was written about the illness of his old friend from his childhood. The letter was written in a way, that only a personal response was a good response to this letter. When he first saw the house he could feel something not good in the air. He wasn’t feeling comfortable in the house. Not only because of the house was very old, but also because of some strange atmosphere in it. When the man saw Roderick after such a long time, he couldn’t recognize him in the first moment. The years and the illness changed him very much. It was a mental illness. Lady Madeline, the sister of Roderick Usher, is also sick. It happened that she died. They buried her in the family crypt in the house. From this moment on the illness of Roderick Usher went worse. He was in really bad mental state. One night there was a strong storm. Roderick came to his friend’s room. The man wanted to calm him so he suggested he was going to read to Roderick one of his favorite romances. But it was a book Mad Trist, which wasn’t romance at all. It was a kind of scaring book. As the man was reading he could hear some sounds. It seemed that it was happening what was read. Roderick was looking on big camber door to the room. He said to the man they had buried Madeline alive, and that he knew it. Suddenly, the door was opened and Madeline came in. There was blood upon her white robe. The man escaped out from the house. As he was looking on the house from outside, the house of Usher fell down and Roderick and Madeline died in the house. That is a short content of the first story. Now we would like to write some remarks to the formal side of the story. The narrator of the story is the friend of Roderick Usher.