It is tempting to ascribe to events and characters those supernatural and irrational qualities that author tries to enforce on readers. But what in literary world seems to be unconditioned and free-floating “eidos” in reality is determined by scientifically constructed patterns and laws. Thus, we need to rely more on the common sense than on the visionary and esoteric perspective. Science tends to transform literary multidimensial space in transparent casual plane. So, let’s follow it in this effort, while discussing Poe’s story The Fall of the House of Usher.
From the beginning of the story when narrator comes to the Usher’s house on his invitation, we can easily that Usher’s behavior which would later form the symbolic fabric of the story is determined by the number of symptoms that can be scientifically identified. Among them are hyperesthesia (high sensitivity to light, smells, and sounds), hypochondria and hyper anxiety. So this deceases that can be easily discerned and analyzed are main reasons for Usher’s strange behavior and thoughts such his believe that the house he lives in is sentient and that this particular sentience results from the specific arrangement of the vegetation and masonry circling it.
After Usher’s sister dies they decide to hide her body in the house’s vault. After a week narrator and Usher become anxious. This can be explained not for some mysterious reason as a coming storm or some irrational reasons but more likely by the fact that Usher’s anxiety and psychological instability transmitted to narrator, thus creating the atmosphere of something entirely supernatural taking place. Common sense could also explain this strange atmosphere by the coming storm, which must be understood not as some mysterious force but just as simple nature phenomenon.
The supernatural features of the story are also exaggerated by the fact that the bog surrounding the house glows in the dark like it glowed in the painting of Usher. This is also simple nature phenomenon determined by the natural law and the fact that bog glowed in Usher’s painting too is simply a coincidence.
When narrator reads the story of The Mad Trist and light-electric and sound effects start to fill the house as the story unravels it can be easily explained that the strength of the storm and the mystique of the story interlaced to produce this affect on those men’s consciousness.
Then, the comeback of Usher’s sister which was considered to be dead and then her real death with her brother can be explained by the fact that she never died and her death was the play of Usher’s imagination. Moreover, Usher could simply place her sleeping in the vault and that explains why she died in real after coming back. A week in vault without water and food made her naturally sick and she got finally exhausted. Usher was so psychologically destructed that after seeing his sister, who he considered dead was so stunned that died of fear.
Finally, the destruction of the Usher’s house can be explained by the fact that its base was not solid and the change in weather conditions caused it destruction. Moreover, the level of Victorian engineering was not so high so there could be some deficiencies in house construction.
As we see, rational and common sense explanation is the only possible way to understand the reality even if it is depicted in the literary form. Everything that happens has its natural grounds – this is the lesson of Enlightenment and we, modern people must follow it and do not fall into esoteric prejudices debunked by the pace of science and technology, which are the liberating force of modern civilization.