Comparison and Contrast Essay

Comparison and Contrast Essay

    Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” are two examples of Gothic literature. In both stories there are many characteristics of Gothic literature like ghostly settings, glumness, and evil predominant over good.  All of these traits exist in both stories. These two author use gothic technique in order to reflect  how the characters feel. Roderick Usher and Emily Grierson are the main characters of these stories. They have alot of similiarity, although the differences are even more.

    For instance, both deal with a death; however, there is a lot that the two do not have in common. One character, though dealing with death is remorseful and not mad, while the other is not remorseful and quite loony. One major similarity between Roderick Usher and Emily Grierson is death. Usher’s sister, Lady Madeline, dies. He buries her in a tomb in his house and later realizes that she is not dead. He unknowingly buries her alive. On the other hand, Emily Grierson, after realizing that her lover is not serious about a relationship knowingly procures arsenic and kills him. Therefore, murder exists in both stories.

    Despite some similarities, there are many differences between the two characters. One such example is insanity level. It is clear that Emily is insane and, contrastly, Roderick is not. Emily lives in a state of denial about paying taxes. She kills a man, makes love with the cadaver and, above all, sees nothing wrong with this. She is utterly mad. Roderick, however, is merely ill. He grieves over his sister’s death and honestly thinks her dead, but upon realization that she is alive, he is scared.

    Roderick is, though not guilty of murder, quite remorseful over burying his sister alive. He does not fix the problem due to fear but, nevertheless, feels quite sorry. Emily, on the other hand, shows no remorse and keeps her dead cadaver of a husband (whom she sleeps with) in her attic. That is odd and crazy, as well.

    In conclusion, they are very much alike since they are written by the same technique. The way the Poe describes the setting of “The fall of the house of usher” is similar to the way Foulkner describes the setting on “A rose for emily”. However, the difference between these two are the way the main characters are and how they act in their situation.