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I looked upon the scene before me — upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain — upon the bleak walls — upon the vacant eye-like windows — upon a few rank sedges — and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees — with an utter depression of soul.
This initial description the narrator gives of his approach to the House of Usher establishes the frightening tone of the story. Poe makes use of a literary device called the “objective correlative,” a technique where objects such as the setting of a story reflect the mood or emotions of its characters. The bleakness and decay all throughout this passage hint at Roderick’s mental state within as well as Madeline’s physical decline. In addition, the spooky atmosphere sets the tone for this rather Gothic tale.
The general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered. Many books and musical instruments lay scattered about, but failed to give any vitality to the scene. I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow.
The narrator provides this description of his room upon seeing it for the first time. As he has emphasized from the moment he first saw the house, everything about it feels old in a way that evokes decay and death. We also are first introduced here to the works and tools of art, the literature and musical instruments, that surround Roderick. The narrator’s comment that they “failed to give any vitality to the scene,” that is, make it feel lively or lived in hints at the role art plays in the story. Instead of bringing comfort or release, Roderick uses artistic endeavors to wallow in his anxiety.
But the under surfaces of the huge masses of agitated vapor, as well as all terrestrial objects immediately around us, were glowing in the unnatural light of a faintly luminous and distinctly visible gaseous exhalation which hung about and enshrouded the mansion.
This description appears during the narrator’s description of the storm. The otherworldly atmosphere of the stormy night helps heighten the tension of the story’s climax and creates a decidedly ghostly atmosphere. The eerie light echoes the strange luminosity portrayed in Roderick’s painting, as if he had foreseen the terrible night of Madeline’s return from the vault. Even though the narrator explains away the glow as an electrical phenomenon, the word “unnatural” leaves room for supernatural interpretations. The phrase “gaseous exhalation” also sounds phantasmagoric, with the word exhalation suggesting that the fog or mist comes from something breathing instead of nature.
