Similarities Between The Fall Of The House Of Usher And House Taken Over

Parsons, Ayden Mr. Shipp English 1 Honors 3rd block 8/29/24 Two Stories, Alike, But also Different The two stories, “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “House Taken Over” are different types of stories, however, they also have some similarities. Written by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a gothic story about how Roderick Usher accidentally buried his sister, Madeline, alive. The story “House Taken Over”, written by Julio Cortazar, is a magical realist story about how a brother and sister, Irene, got kicked out of their generation-owned house by a mysterious presence. Firstly, a way that the stories are similar is that both authors draw the reader in with the allure of fear in “House Taken Over” and “The Fall of the House
An example of this is at the beginning of the story, “I know not how it was—but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit” (Poe 1). Julio Cortazar also sets the mood for the reader with his writing style in “House Taken Over”. For instance, the brother expresses, “The sound came through muted and indistinct, a chair being knocked over onto the carpet or the muffled buzzing of a conversation. At the same time or a second later, I heard it at the end of the passage which led from those two rooms toward the door” (Cortazar 6). In contrast, the way that the two stories are different is how Edgar Allan Poe and Julio Cortazar differently draw the reader into the story. The use of detailed writing and dark and gothic elements by Poe is how he grabs the attention of the reader. To support this, Poe writes, “There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart—an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of the sublime” (Poe 1). However, Julio utilizes the element of magical realism and how he explains the setting well for better understanding of the reader and catching their curiosity about what may