The Fall of the House of Usher

The House of Usher is a run-down, gloomy, scary place. The speaker has come to the House of Usher to stay with his friend Roderick, who has come down with a physical/mental illness. Roderick wrote him a letter and asked him to come stay.

Roderick Usher has the paleness of a corpse, his eyes are watery, his lips are thin and pale. He looks really sick. Roderick Usher called his illness a “family evil.” He could not stand light. He could only eat bland food. He could only wear clothes of a certain texture. There could be no flowers. It was a “morbid acuteness of the senses.”

Roderick’s sister, Madeline, is also ill, though more so than Roderick Roderick’s sister, Madeline, is also ill, though more so than Roderick. They are the last of the Usher family. Roderick is acting more ill—and more crazy.

Madeline dies and Roderick has her entombed in the walls of the house so that the doctors will not dissect her body to study her illness. After his sister dies, Roderick gets worse. The speaker begins to think he might be getting sick.

During a storm, Roderick shows the speaker that the house is surrounded by a glowing vapor. Roderick and the speaker buried Madeline alive and Roderick knew all along because of his “acute senses.” The House crumbles after the speaker gets out, leaving Madeline and Roderick inside.