This is one of the stories I greatly enjoy by Poe. The narrator is confessing a crime he committed fifty years ago. He was never caught, I'm not sure he was even a suspect. I noticed that in this short story the narrator actually has a name, Montresor. Poe doesn't seem to like to name his narrators much, so this surprised me a bit. Anyway, yes, Montresor is sly and quite bright in his way of killing Fortunato. He makes sure to clear his house of employees, and he leads the victim to the basement. My favorite part of the story is where Fortunato says "I will not die of a cough" and Montresor agrees with him. Love the irony. Fortunato does not die of a cough, but of being buried alive - not in the ground but in a wall. I love the image of this - maybe I'm morbid but that's how I roll. The thought of a man dressed as a jester, chained to a wall and then brick by brick he disappears into nothingness. Does anyone miss him? Does anyone even care?
The Fall of the House of Usher
This story has always been one that has stuck with me. The story of twins that die in a house that seemingly wants to swallow them whole is a story that one can't really forget. Until we discussed the story in class, I never gave the relationship between brother and sister a thought. I mean, I thought they were close. I didn't think they were committing incest, however, but little tidbits from the story seem to support that. Gross.
I love haunted house stories, and this is a different kind of haunted house story. There are no ghosts trying to scare people, just the house itself willing it's evil on it's inhabitants. It eventually kills the Usher twins, and kills their lineage as well. When this happens, the house falls as well, as if it's only want or need was to effectively kill the Usher name.
No comments:
Post a Comment