Unity of Effect in The Fall of the House of Usher
Unity of Effect is used in many, if not all, of the literary elements and devices in The fall of the House of Usher. The whole plot is designed to make the reader feel uneasy and create an atmosphere of suspense. At the end of the story, the reader should feel one or more of the following emotions: gloom, terror, awe, or distress. The plot sets up a series of events that leads to the desired effect at the end of the story. The character who is the narrator arrives at the house with an uneasy feeling. He meets his friend Roderick Usher who speaks about his mental condition, in which he seems to have become more superstitious. Roderick talks about his sister Lady Madeline, upon her decease would leave Roderick the last Usher, and the narrator is astonished and filled with dread, but doesn’t know why. Roderick and the narrator paint and read together to help ease the melancholy of Roderick. Roderick’s painting and poem are strange. Usher informs the narrator that his sister, Lady Madeline, died and he helps Usher entomb her. After his twin sister dies, Usher starts to act strange and his condition worsens. The narrator gets scared in the night because something isn’t right. Usher arrives at his room and asks it he had seen it. The narrator exhibits conflict because he doesn’t want to believe that he has had a supernatural experience. He begins to read to Usher as a way to cope with his fright. As he reads, both men hear noises that go with the story. Usher breaks down and says that the sounds were made by Lady Madeline and she stands at the door. This creates suspense which is broken by the door opening. Lady Madeline is standing there and her appearance frightens the reader. She attacks Usher and the Narrator flees the house just before it collapses and gets swallowed up by the Earth. The title, The Fall of the House of