Edgar Allen Poe Is One of the Term Paper

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Edgar Allen Poe is one of the most famous American authors, but many of his works are not explicitly about the American experience. His "gothic" fiction is filled with suspense, the macabre, the grotesque, and the dark side of human nature. However, a deeper analysis of Poe's works can reveal parallels between his fiction and the American experience. One of Poe's works that can particularly symbolize and exemplify the American experience is his short story "The Fall of the House of Usher." While Poe may not have intended the symbolism and motifs in "The Fall of the House of Usher" to represent the American experience, there are several elements in the story that show that the author was at least on some level aware of the connection. In several ways, Edgar Allen Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" is a parable of the American experience because the author illustrates the illusory glory of paternity, the myth of material success, and the presence of incriminating dark secrets. One of the main problems plaguing the Usher family is the ending of the family name. The "House of Usher" not only refers to the physical mansion but to the patrilineal line that ends with Roderick.

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Poe's childhood friend, with whom he was not particularly close, has descended into madness for many reasons. One of these is his acute disturbance and disappointment with his inability to carry on his father's name. The "fall" of the House of Usher refers not only to the destruction of the house at the finish of the tale but also to the termination of the official family name. Roderick's keen sense of responsibility stems from the intense pressure placed upon his by his father and the rest of his family. This is not unique to the American experience, but during the time "The Fall of the House of Usher" was written, paternity and patrilineality were far more important to American culture than they are today. Thus, the story symbolizes the illusory, dysfunctional nature of….....

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