The introductory paragraph of "The Fall of the House of Usher" (90-91) is a dive into the deep and disturbing tone of this story. The language of the narrative immediately transports the reader into the surreal and horrific world of the Ushers as the unnamed narrator describes his approach to the exterior of the House of Usher. The description itself is sensational and elicits feelings of apprehension and claustrophobia in the reader, intended both to convey and support some of the larger themes of the story and to express a unified aesthetic feeling. And, regardless of its particular function in this story, the passage is an example of Poe's working beliefs regarding the purpose and formation of literary art. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The immediately striking aspect of the introductory paragraph is its dark and disturbing tone expressed in a roundabout way. The very first line has the narrator spitting out bleak adjectives, establishing an overcast autumn day as "dull, dark and silent" and placing himself in this environment alone on horseback traveling through a "bleak stretch of country" towards a "melancholic" house. The building arouses "unbearable darkness" in the narrator with its "severe natural images of the desolate [and] terrible." The narrator dives into an assessment of the house's exterior: it is "plain" and "shabby" with "vacant" windows, "rank" sedges, and "decayed" and "white" tree trunks. The narrator feels a “total depression of the soul,” comparable to the “afterdream” of an opiate addict, a “bitter mistake,” and “the horrible falling of the veil.” He feels “a chill, a sinking, a disgust of the heart,” “an unredeemed sadness of thought” that cannot be “tortured” in the “sublime.” The narrator must "grapple with dark fantasies" and is "forced" to accept an "unsatisfactory conclusion" with respect to "mere natural objects" with a "power" to influence him. He hypothesizes that it is possible to "annihilate" this "painful impression" and goes "to the precipitous edge of a black and filthy lake", the reflection of which makes him "shiver" as he looks down at the images of the "grade sedge, and the horrible tree trunks, and the empty, eye-like windows." All of these key words and phrases are addressed to the reader within the confines of the first paragraph of the story. The existence of a scary tone is unmistakable: at least half a dozen metaphors appear for some sense of the word "gloomy," notably "bleak," "decayed," "boring," "dark," "dark," and " horrible". ." The narrator describes the House in purely dark terms; there is no redeeming quality to speak of regarding the building's facade. He is almost hysterical in his description: How can a structure be so funereal? The end of this paragraph unfolds the difficult task of smoothly establishing the irremediably sad setting and tone for the rest of the story Although the narrator is unable to see the House as anything other than an eerie apparition, there is no respite in his. tone throughout the entire piece, and its pure and unbroken pessimism reflects the subsequent events of the story, in which there is no respite in the horrors of the House and its inhabitants. Poe thus creates a morbid stage of unrelenting misery and desolation, his own the appropriate tone and background for this piece. Although the tone of the introduction is appropriately dark, there is an obvious exaggerated, almost absurd, aspect to the narrator's description. Many of the descriptive adverbs and adjectives in the paragraph are used in a way unusual and metaphorical. The clouds hung "oppressively low", implying an intentionally pernicious nature. Thenarrator also speaks in intense absolutes: the "desolation of thought" he experiences is "unredeemed"; approaches a “precipitous edge,” a phrase that expresses terrible anticipation. The narrator goes so far as to personify the House. Note that it has "eye-like windows". The house is "melancholy": this can be read as causing a state of sadness, but is more often interpreted as the state of sadness itself. He considers an "unsatisfactory conclusion" the possibility that the House is simply a series of "simple natural objects": it could therefore be complex, unnatural, living, or some combination of the three. In essence, the narrator's great concern for the House introduces the mansion as a character in its own right. The extremity of the narrator's hyperbole serves at least three visible purposes in the narrative. First, this implies that the narrator's emotional state is relatively weak at the beginning of the novel. Secondly, it prepares the reader for the fantastic nature of the events that will follow, credulously and seriously creating an atmosphere that is already both dark and highly surreal. Anticipate connections between symbols, themes, and characters in the rest of the story. Third, the ambiguity and strangeness of the narrator's descriptions arouse an artistic and attractive feeling of dramatic tension within the story. The House influences the narrator so strongly that his spirit is pervaded by a "sense of unbearable sadness"; he doesn't know why the villa is giving him this feeling. He ponders whether a supernatural aspect might cause his pain as he approaches the House and goes so far as to attempt to change his actual angle of view on it. The narrator makes several digressions throughout the jerky pace of the passage, explaining when he reflects and stops to think, as if the exterior of the mansion were a puzzle and he was describing his thought process as he actively tried to solve it. These stylistic elements form a valid question in the reader's mind about the mental and emotional health of the narrator. Being so internally troubled by a sad outward appearance seems strange to the reader, and one's first vision of the narrator is that of a paranoid neurotic. Yet there is another ambiguity here: is the narrator overreacting, or is the House of Usher truly haunted? Or are the two symbiotic in their strangeness? The narrator is unable to describe the House without instilling his own fear: the House is described in the context of its effects on the narrator. Likewise, the only strong effect of the House in this paragraph seems to be on the narrator, and the reader only becomes aware of the sad nature of the estate through a single character's apprehensive descriptions. This creates an almost symbiotic relationship between the House and the narrator, which foreshadows the relationships between Roderick and Madeline Usher, degenerates who complement each other, and between the physical House of Usher and the Usher family line. Regarding this last relationship, the fact that the narrator is so clearly linked to the House by virtue of his explicit reaction to it facilitates the reader to consider the House mystical, symbolic and deeply linked to the emotional state of Roderick Usher. Finally, the narrator's apprehension at the House in the first paragraph constitutes the final scene of the story, in which the narrator flees justified in terror. In this two main motifs of circumscription of space and symmetry arise which help to form the entire story. paragraph. The action here takes place entirely outside the Chamber. However, the outdoor elements are burdensome: it is a "dull, dark, silent day" in autumn, and the clouds hang "oppressively low." The narrator is traveling to a "horrible" house whose outward appearance has affected him deeply andnegatively. Instead of leaving immediately, he instead continues - trapped by a commitment that would be revealed later in the opening paragraphs - and becomes mentally fixated on the misery caused by the House. The outside has, essentially, begun to threaten his mind. The firmness of pace and depth of diction in the opening paragraph itself represents a form of claustrophobia. The heavy, brooding language comes from the narrator's feelings about the House, and the depth of the language makes the reader feel as burdened as the narrator. This feeling of claustrophobia gives rise to the more serious and cramped nature of the home's interior. It consistently lays the groundwork for the profound effect the House has on its secluded inhabitants, while complex language builds a barrier between the reader and Roderick Usher, further defining the depths of Usher's hermitage. There is, also, an element of symmetry in the opening paragraph. The narrator tries to see the House differently by looking at its reflection in a pond, but ultimately cannot see the House any less terrifying. Symmetry is a key element of the story as a whole. The House suffers from a fissure which, when extended, is the means of its physical destruction. (93, 109) The characters of Roderick and Madeline Usher are thoughtful twins with complementary deformities: Roderick, a sensitive esthete, lacks a physical connection to the world; his sister, a physically strong cataleptic, lacks a mental connection to the world, as evidenced by her lack of presence in the story in contrast to Roderick's relative loquacity. There is also symmetry in the unfolding of the events of the story. The narrator begins with his apprehensive arrival at the House; he ends up running away from it. The circumscription of space and symmetry extend beyond their need to enhance the themes of the story and can be understood as elements that enhance the structure and focus of the story. Concerning the circumscription of space, Poe writes in Philosophy of Composition: It has always seemed to me that a narrow circumscription of space is absolutely necessary for the effect of the isolated incident: it has the strength of a frame for a picture. It has an indisputable moral power in keeping attention focused and, of course, should not be confused with mere unity of place. (438)Poe thus maintains the focus and atmosphere of the story by enclosing the narrator and the other characters in such a narrow and sad atmosphere. Poe also wrote of his meticulous planning of a work from beginning to end, arguing that "every plot, worthy of the name, must be worked out to its denouement before anything is attempted with the pen" (430). The visible elements of symmetry in the story as a whole almost echo Poe's mathematical and systematic approach to the art of writing. The structured order of the piece, which emanates from its composition, through its very form enhances the significant nuances of symmetry. The eerie inverted image of the House of Usher in a dark lake - perhaps thanks to Poe's calculations - fits this structure perfectly. Perhaps the most significant function of the opening paragraph of “The Fall of the House of Usher.” it is his effort in creating a strong feeling in the reader. As stated previously, the extremity and heaviness of the paragraph's language fosters a strong dark atmosphere at the beginning of the story and helps create a consistent tone, characterization, and major themes. This mood also has a calculated effect on the reader's emotions. The strident, descriptive and surreal nature of the tone together with the highly personal, internal and exact manner of the narration bring the reader deeply into the disturbing atmosphere of the.