Open AccessThe Fall of the House of Usher: The Collapse of Roderick’s Nostalgia Mechanism
Author(s) -
Hong Zhang
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
english language and literature studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1925-4776
pISSN - 1925-4768
DOI - 10.5539/ells.v11n4p43
Subject(s) - fall of man , mechanism (biology) , dream , idealization , irrational number , front (military) , art , philosophy , literature , psychology , law , epistemology , engineering , physics , political science , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics , neuroscience , politics , mechanical engineering
As an attractive Gothic tale of Edgar Allan Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher creates a mysterious and violent fall, leaving multiple interpretations on why the house of Usher collapsed suddenly. From the perspective of Roderick, the last inheritor of aristocratic Usher, the fall of Usher is more like his shaky nostalgia mechanism in front of discontinued situation. In his seemingly stable nostalgia mechanism, Mansion Usher, the narrator and Lady Madeline play core roles in meeting the needs of avoidance, attachment and idealization to construct a seemingly stable nostalgia mechanism. With the weird fall of Usher, Poe probes into the irrational nature of human, permeating his attention to warn the significance of balancing comfortable dream and reality.