The Theme of Fear in the Fall of the House of Usher Essay Example

The expression “fear is the mind killer” as written by Frank Herbert, and used as a common saying, expresses the danger fear poses to the mind. Intense fear or paranoia can overcome the mind and take a physical effect. Nail-biting, hand-shaking, goosebump-raising anxiety is one of the rawest human emotions. This emotion is created from a chemical reaction in the brain; glutamate is a chemical produced in your thalamus which releases neurotransmitters throughout the body. Whether it is presenting in class, watching a frightening movie, or spiders, everyone can be affected by this chemical reaction.  Fear itself has the possibility to be rational and healthy, but in many instances fear is irrational which can affect an individual’s decisions. Therefore, it is essential to ask the following question: how much can fear affect the mind and is it enough to ignore reasoning? 

Perhaps the most common fear around the world is the fear of the dark, or more specifically the lack of vision humans have when in the dark. It’s easy to feel scared and let your mind ruminate with fear-based thoughts when sitting alone in the dark, regardless of the fact that you know there is no danger present. This is only one simple example; the basis is that fear presents the brain with unfounded thoughts and convinces your brain to trust these thoughts more than what you previously know. In Edgar Allen Poe’s, “The Fall of The House of Usher” the story reiterates the theme of fear overcoming reason which is prevalent in Poe’s works of literature. The narrator of the story receives a letter from his friend requesting his company and makes his way to the ancient House of Usher. Roderick Usher’s demeanor is anxious and agitated. He struggles with severe paranoia and it’s evident with his progressive deterioration. Soon, he confides in his friend stating, “In this unnerved, in this pitiable, condition I feel the period will sooner or later arrive when I must abandon life and reason all together and some struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR.” Roderick even says he must abandon fear and reason altogether. He is struggling with intense fear and compares it to a grim phantasm, or a figment of his imagination that is clearly affecting his decisions and physical state. 

Edgar Allen Poe’s symbolism in “The Fall of The House of Usher” uses the siblings’ mental instability to mirror the instability of the structure of the house. The House of Usher’s dilapidated, decayed and ancient exterior is accompanied with the feeling of inescapable gloom. Throughout the duration of the story, as Rodericks mental state decreases, the house decays further. Roderick is fearful that his house and his condition is somehow one entity, and his house is the driving force of his sister's mysterious condition. In the text, the narrator notes, “He was enchanted by certain superstitious impression in regard to the dwelling which he tenanted, and whence, for many years, he had never ventured forth- in regard to an influence whose supposititious force was conveyed in terms too shadowy here to be restated- and influence which some peculiarities in the mere form and substance of his family, had by dint of long sufferance, he said, obtained over his spirit-and effect which the physique of the gray walls and turrets, and  of the dim tarn into which they all looked down, had at length, brought about upon the morale of his existence. ” Usher is affected by persistent and perpetual paranoia regarding his house which has driven him to insanity. The anxiety he feels has convinced his brain that the house is the cause of his mental state instead of knowing houses possess no such abilities. His fear affects his rationality as he makes the decision to bury his unmoving sister; a decision he wouldn’t have made within reason. He places his sister, who is alive, in the vault,st lak then struggles with grief as his last companion of the ancient race of usher had to his knowledge, died. 

After burying his sister, Roderick’s trepidation does not cease. He spends the next day's aimlessly wandering the corridors and muttering silently under his breath while dealing with what appears to be grief but is really fear. This paranoia overtakes Roderick and made the atmosphere so fear-driven, the narrator describes it as nervousness that had domain over him. Roderick becomes more and more disturbed as the days go on until the night his sister escapes.  Roderick states, “Yes!” he said. “I heard it! Many minutes, many hours, many days have I heard it — but I did not dare to speak! We have put her living in the vault! Did I not say that my senses were too strong? I heard her first movements many days ago — yet I did not dare to speak! And now, that story — but the sounds were hers! Oh, where shall I run?! She is coming — coming to ask why I put her there too soon. I hear her footsteps on the stairs. I hear the heavy beating of her heart.” Roderick Usher had gone mad, with the fear of his sister. As she entered the room she collapsed onto Roderick, causing him to become a corpse, killed by fear. Roderick foreshadows his death earlier in the story when he says, “I feel the period will sooner or later arrive when I must abandon life and reason all together and some struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR.”

The mind killer, fear, can affect the mind to a point where the brain will ignore reasoning. “The Fall of The House of Usher” demonstrates a perfect example of this as Roderick Usher allows fear to overcome any rationality and reasoning he had. Anxiety rids the brain of sensible thoughts and replaces them with thoughts of doubt, fear, and trepidation then convinces the brain to trust these thoughts. Clearly, the collapse of the Usher household is at the direct fault of fear overcoming reason.