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Narrator in Poe

 

By involving himself, the reader is drawn to finding out if he will contract it entirely or escape the madness.
             Second, the narrator acts as an observer in the story. The way the narrator examines his surrounds throughout the story, makes you feel what he is feeling. By doing this, it is easy for the reader to become the friend in Poe's story. One good observation is when the narrator speculates that Madeline may not be completely dead yet. Studying her face, he notes "The disease which had thus entombed the lady in the maturity of youth, had left, as usual in all maladies of a strictly cataleptical character, the mockery of faint blush open the bosom and the face, and that suspiciously lingering smile upon the lip which is so terrible in death-(781). While continuing to bury her he never mentions his suspicion to his friend. The narrator automatically turns away from the unpleasant truth by trying not to believe what he is seeing. .
             In addition, the narrator also notes the changes he sees in his friend. Over time Usher's appearance has changed. He notices "now in the mere exaggeration of the prevailing character of these features, and of the expression they were wont to convey, lay so much of change that I doubted to whom I spoke-(774). Also, he observes Usher and concludes that his friend has a mental disorder. He learns that "moreover, at intervals, and through broken and equivocal hints, another singular feature of his mental condition. He was enchanted by certain superstitious impressions in regard to the dwelling which he tenanted-(775). He tries to look for natural scientific explanations for what Usher senses. Sometimes, the tone of the narrator suggests that he cannot understand Usher and his mental disorder. By observing his friend, this makes the reader interested to see if he does or want to help his friend with his illness. .
             Last, the narrator in the story is a minor character that is told in first-person participant point of view.


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