The Fall of the House of Usher Creates Suspense

“There was iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart-an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of sublime.  What was it-I paused to think-what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of the House of Usher?” (Poe 21).

Suspense is a feeling of apprehension, tension and anxiety which everyone has experienced at some point in their life.  It stems from the anticipation of some unexpected but inevitable event which we are powerless to stop from happening.  Like winding up a jack-in-the-box, the lid prevents us from knowing what exactly is inside, and we cannot be sure when the contents will burst forth.  So it is with the House of Usher.  A feeling of melancholy builds to dread and fear as the story progresses, and despite the best efforts of author to help Roderick, he is incapable of preventing Usher’s certain fate.  The House of User is an excellent example of suspense as it takes the reader from just a feeling of insufferable gloom, building to an ominous and foreboding fear, to the climax of a violent storm which destroys the whole house and the family.

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