Edgar allen Poe

            
             Death is defined as, "The termination or extinction of something" (American Heritage Dictionary). Edgar Allen Poe uses this description in "The Fall of the House of Usher" in different ways. Poe's intention when writing "The Fall of the House of Usher" was not to present a moral, lesson, or truth to the reader; he was simply trying to bring forth a sense of terror to the reader. .
             Edgar Allen Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809. His life was filled with tragedies that started when he was ten months old and until he died at age forty. These tragedies might be the answer to why Poe wrote in a way that confuses most of his readers. "Abandoned, misunderstood, and broke throughout his life, few would have predicted that Poe would one day achieve the fame and respect now offered him in literacy circles in America and Europe. Poe is grouped with other writers in the Romantic period. Writers of this period focused on life, emotions, and the existence of the human race. Although Poe's work has many characteristics of Romanticism, "The Fall of the House of Usher", falls into the Gothic category. Bringing forth the symbolism of death is a major part of this writing. .
             All of the characters in "The Fall of the House of Usher" are linked to death; by physical objects or by other people. There are no symbols of good. The physical aspect of the House of Usher symbolizes death in the chain of events during the story. Even Poe's description of the house has deadly characteristics. Poe describes the house as having .
             "eye-like windows" and being covered by "minute fungi.hanging in a fine tangled web-work from the eaves (fungi eats off the dead remains of other organisms); a barely perceptible fissure, which, extending from the roof of the building in front, made its way down the wall in a zigzag direction, until it became lost in the sullen waters of the tarn"(Poe). .
             This "fissure" is presented to the reader, early in the story, to represent that Roderick's love for his twin sister, Madeline, was dying, because she was suffering from a mysterious disease that baffled her doctors.