Compare/Contrast Emily Rose Roderick Usher

Compare and Contrast of Emily Rose and Roderick Usher

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.” Throughout her seventy-five years Miss Emily’s house went from a beauty to “an eyesore among eyesores.” She along with Roderick by the end of their lives were living in old, dark, decaying mansion with spider webs and dust everywhere.
Although both of these characters have very similar environments they had different views when it came to death. Roderick’s character is accepting the death of his sister, repenting and not mad, while Emily is not regretful and not in her right mind. 
 Lady Madeline, Roderick’s sister by incest, becomes very ill and dies leaving Roderick as the last of the family. Roderick puts her into a tomb in his house and he later comes to find out that she is not dead. On the contrary, Emily, finds out that Homer, her lover was either homosexual or “not the marrying type” she uses arsenic, rat poison, to kill him so she wasn’t being abandoned by him. Therefore Roderick lost his lover due to illness, so he thinks, and Emily murders hers so she doesn’t have to be alone.
Both characters have a skewed perception on love and relationships, which makes them similar. Roderick has unnatural relationships with his family. Him and his twin sister and the only two left of the Usher family and he is in love with her. Roderick doesn’t have a relationship to society he has no friends. He also does not have much of a relationship with nature; nature ceases to exist around his home. Black water, and decaying tree trucks surround it. He also has an unnatural relationship with his own mind. His mind and body are at war with each other. He is very sensitive to light, he can’t take noise and he only can eat very bland food. When a human being has no support system at all they go crazy. Emily had very unnatural relationships. She was controlled by her father, and was not allowed to go out with anyone. She didn’t know what love was so she clung to her father and held on to what she knew. When her father passed she searched for love and found Homer, she wanted him there all the time. This relationship was very twisted because when she found out he did not want her she killed him and slept with his corpse every night so she didn’t feel abandoned. After she passed many people came to her funeral “the men through a sort of respectful affliction…” “the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house…” The difference between Roderick and Emily was she had known by people in her town but had not seen them or spoken to them “in at least ten years.”
Even with some similarities, there are many differences between the Roderick and Emily. One case in point is their madness level. It is apparent that neither Roderick nor Emily is in their right minds but it also very apparent that Emily is absolutely delusional. Roderick is alone since his sister “died” and has no one, like I stated before when you have no support system whatsoever it is only a matter of time before you loose your mind. Roderick does grieve over his sisters “death” and takes care of her body respectfully by putting her inside of the tomb. When Roderick finds out his sister is still alive he ends up dying with her in his arms from pure shock. “…then with a low moaning cry, fell heavily inward upon the person of her brother, and in a violent and now final death-agonies, bore him to the floor a corpse, and a victim to the terrors he had anticipated.” Emily on the other hand lives in a state of denial. She doesn’t pay bills or taxes, she doesn’t realize that colonel is dead, she refuses to number her house, her house is very old and doesn’t fit in the town, and she still has china paintings. She murders her “lover” and continues to sleep with his corpse and see’s nothing wrong with anything she is doing. She is down right insane. She was not seen as a monster because she had never seen love and she was just trying to hold on to what she perceived as love. Both of these characters were in extreme psychological states but in the “Fall of the House of Usher” Roderick states, “I have no abhorrence of dangers, except in its absolute effect—in terror.” By this he tries to explain himself as a frightened and misconstrued man, not a crazed lunatic. This confirms the conclusion of repentance. Emily shows no shame by keeping the man she murdered and continuously sleeping with his corpse. She believes she has done no wrong and that he was wrong for wanting to leave her. Roderick nonetheless feels saddened when he believes that his sister passed away and when he finds out that she was still alive he feels shocked, guilty, and shameful. His sister was all he had and he did not want her to leave him just like Emily did not want Homer to leave her but Roderick was not a murderer unlike Emily.
Wrapping up, there are many comparisons between Roderick and Emily, as well as many, discrepancies between the two characters. They both had no sense of time, they both were in extreme psychological states, they both had skewed ideas of love, they both had very unnatural relationships, and they both lived in old Gothic mansions. The underlying meaning of both of these stories had to do with death and both of these characters ending up dying at the end of the story. In conclusion there were more similarities than differences but when you read more into the stories the characters were very different in many ways.