Essay Poe

Angel Benitez Felix

845-15-0870

Comparative Essay

INGL 3221-L03

Prof. Helvia Guzmán

The Fall of the House of Usher and A Rose for Emily are two peculiar but good stories in their own way. Although they seem to assimilate in some features, if it is seen from an analytic perspective it is noticeable that these two stories may be similar in their elements but each has a different track through the readers mind. The mood, the plot and the personality of each protagonist are the most concrete differences in each story.

First of all, the mood that is portrayed in each story is different from the other. In the Fall of the House of Usher the mood presented is a heavy gloomy mood. Its intention is to make the reader feel as if they are in a horror movie and create tenseness as the story goes on. This differs from the story A Rose for Emily which sets a mood of mystery to create curiosity in the reader and intriguement to find out what is going to happen through the stories development. The mood is set to complement the outcome of the story, and since each of the outcomes is different from one another the moods are different to.

Also a fact, the conflicts in each of the stories do not assimilate at all with each other. In A Rose for Emily the protagonist is having an external conflict with society/circumstances do to the fact that she has to struggle with society not accepting her ways and at the same time live with the past events that led her to take the actions that she took thought the story. In The Fall of the House of Usher the protagonist has a conflict purely with himself since he has to battle with the illness that makes him psychologically madder through the story.

Lastly, the personality of each of the protagonist of the stories share madness overall but it is evident that it is not the same madness when the circumstances that made them that way are put into consideration. In A Rose for Emily the madness portrayed in the character is due to how her father excluded her from the outside world and the trauma that she had when he died. Thought the story the protagonist is not even conscious of her madness since she never presents any kind of regret for the actions that she takes which differs from The Fall of the House of Usher’s protagonist who is completely conscious of the illness that’s eating his sanity away and it is showed in the story when he regrets the actions that he took.

In conclusion, The Fall of the House of Usher and A Rose for Emily if looked with a naked eye share some similarities but when analyzed the differences are evident. All from the personalities of each protagonist to the mood and conflict set in the story show noticeable differences. Each of the authors that wrote these stories used different styles and had different ideas that made these stories what they are. But one thing is for sure that they are similar, and that is that the stories are both good in their own way.