The Split Mind

Edgar Allan Poe
1809-1849

"Although as boys, we had been even intimate associates, yet I really knew little of my friend. His reserve had been always excessive and habitual. I was aware, however, that his very ancient family had been noted, time out of mind, for a peculiar sensibility of temperament"
(Norton pg 1554)

As this quote points out, Roderick, and the Ushers in general, seem to suffer from being a very reserved, and possibly repressed family, saying perhaps that the control with which the family carries it's emotions is so extreme that it verges on being awkward. In many ways, I find that this quote describes the battle between the imagination, or inner self, and reason, the veil that we wear over our true selves in order to be accepted in society.

"From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were---I have not seen
As others saw---I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I lov'd, I loved alone."
(Alone by Edgar Allan Poe)

I find that a lot of Poe's life had overtones of loneliness. As a child he was taken, but never fully adopted into a troubled family. He moved quite a bit, both into and out of England, didn't see eye to eye with his adopted father, and was most likely a misfit. In this loneliness however, he was a man who said what he felt, as can be seen in his scathing reviews, poetry, and writing. He may have been a natural rebel, but the University of Virginia, his first college experience, nurtured this internal honesty as well, having been a school based on freedom, and individuality which allowed students to choose their subjects of study, and form their own student government (no doubt a revolutionary idea at the time). Wherever it came from however, this reckless honesty, and freedom of thought defined him as a writer, but at the same time made him many enemies. Nevertheless, I think that the battles he fought over conformity, and reason, versus freedom of the imagination, and true inner emotion made him the amazing writer he became.

In Poe's "The Fall Of The House of Ushers" Roderick, can obviously be seen, as a madman. A hypochondriac, suffering from depression, paranoia, and potential schizophrenia. He is anything but mentally sound, his loneliness, and paranoia personified by the gloomy, and pervasively empty house that he lives in, and never leaves. The cause of this madness, and the ultimate fall of the house of usher remains uncertain however. There may have never meant to be a reason, but I believe Poe meant for the story go be an allegory for the isolated inner self that Roderick suppresses, and that all men suppress to a degree, painting it as a cause of madness, and depression that ultimately leads to insanity and death. Poe himself experienced isolation throughout his life, and most definitely knew what it was to be repressed, being as he spent 4 years in the military, two of which were spent in the army, and the last two at West Point. Throughout his military career however, he wrote -An outlet for the repression of his inner self?-and published two books of poetry. Perhaps this understanding of the separation between, the inner mind or ego, and the outer appearance, or super ego, is represented in Roderick a man who is a victim of repression, and unable to release his true desires. This split personality can be seen in the way Roderick speaks:

"His voice varied rapidly from a tremulous indecision (when the animal spirits seemed utterly in abeyance) to that species of energetic concision- that abrupt, weighty, unhurried, and hollow sounding enunciation- that leaden, self-balanced, and perfectly modulated guttural utterance, which may be observed in the moments of intensest excitement of the lost drunkard, or the irreclaimable eater of opium." (Norton pg 1556)

His voice, representative of his mind, goes back and forth from being fervently passionate to awkwardly reserved. Exemplifying the battle going on in his mind, Roderick is most definitely schizophrenic. Torn by this repression, Roderick becomes split between two minds. Perhaps this split is physically manifested in the fissure that runs down the house into the tarn. It may also be representative in the relationship of the twins. He may have had the carnal desire to commit incest, and in trying to destroy that desire, buries alive his sister. His sister breaking out of the Coffin then, may represent those inner feelings coming back with a vengeance.

No matter the reason, I find that 'The Fall of The House of Usher' is a story that explores the darker side of madness, humanity and insanity. Those things which are truly scary, are the things that make you fear yourself, and Poe is a writer capable of drawing out that fear.