The Fall of the House of Usher - Creative Thinking Sample

As the narrator of The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, I intend to reveal how Roderick would respond to two of Charles Baudelaires poems, The Carcass and Hymn of Beauty.

Charles Baudelaire The Carcass

Charles Baudelaire The Carcass is a poem about a rotting carcass. The speaker discovered the rotting carcass while taking a walk with his loved one. Roderick might respond to Baudelaires idea about death by showing a high level of nervousness. Roderick is a highly nervous person who is afraid of anything that is related to death. Given that Roderick dies out of fear because of seeing her sister who he presumed dead, he is likely to act very fearfully in the presence of a carcass. Roderick is likely to act neurotic in the presence of a stinking and festering womb. Roderick- suffers from fear, anxiety and his senses are heightened. Given that Roderick is afraid of his own house, what of a sight and smell of a carcass? Roderick is likely to act edgy in the presence of a stench that is so wretched that there on the grass you nearly collapsed in a swoon. The sight of maggots is likely to frighten Roderick. Roderick is an individual who is full of fear; I see him edgy at the sight of bowels of filth where an army of maggots arose.

Roderick responds to beauty by being sexually aroused. Given that Roderick has an incestuous relationship with his beautiful sister, he is likely to be sexually aroused by beauty. The Usher family line has an incestuous history. It is established that Roderick is inseparable from his sister. On the other hand, Roderick may fail to be sexually aroused by beauty gave that despite the fact that he is rich and he can afford to have sex with any beautiful woman, he prefers to have sex with his twin sister. Based on the fact that Rodericks clan is an ancient clan yet it has never flourished, it can be said that Roderick cannot be sexually aroused by beauty other than the beauty that belongs to his lineage. Given that the carcass had her legs were spread out like a lecherous whore Roderick would probably respond to the carcass in a fretful manner. He would probably respond to the carcass in a fearful manner given that the carcass was sweating out poisonous fumes.

The Usher family clan has failed to flourish and expand from generation to generation. It is not therefore far-fetched to state that the Usher family clan is infertile, not interested in outside beauty or not sexually aroused apart from the one member of the family where Roderick belongs. If the Ushers bloodline were captivated by the beauty, more so by the beauty of women who are not members of the clan, the clan would have flourished. The Usher family clan is a wealthy clan, descendants of the clan would have experienced no problems regarding meeting basic needs, and as such, the clan would have proliferated. Unfortunately, members of the Usher family clan seem not be interested in women and beauty, more so outside beauty.

Charles Baudelaire Hymn to Beauty

Charles Baudelaire Hymn to Beauty is a poem that narrates about paradoxes of beauty. The poem asserts that beauty is associated with sensuality and leads towards a fascination with the supernatural and the grotesque. The poem represents beauty in a peculiar manner. Beauty is represented as wretchedness, badness as well as goodness. The poem begins by asking whether beauty comes from heaven or hell.

Roderick would respond to the language and imagery in the poem by being horrified. Given that the language used in the poem is gruesome and Roderick is a fearful individual, he would most likely be petrified by the language and imager in the poem. How would a person who seems afraid of his own house respond to macabre language? It reaches a point where Roderick behaves hysterically. Roderick states that he believes that Madeline was buried alive and she is trying to escape. Rodericks fears are confirmed when the wind blows, opens a door and Madeline appears in robes that have bloodied courtesy of her struggle to escape from the tomb. Madeline goes ahead to attack Roderick; the latter dies out of fear, and the former has life drained out of her as she attacks her brother.

Roderick might respond to the Baudelaires ideas about death or sensory information by acting in a puzzled manner. Roderick is paranoid to the extent that he fears that doctors might dig up his sisters body and use it for scientific experiments given that the sister died of a disease that is unknown. Roderick is unable to distinguish reality and fantasy. Given that Roderick is paranoid, he is likely to respond to the idea of death and sensory information in a nauseated manner.

Roderick would respond to beauty as portrayed in Charles Baudelaire Hymn to Beauty by acting in a manner that is spooky. In the poem, beauty is presented as unpredictable and ghastly. Roderick is afraid of unpredictability and anything that is grim. He hates the house that he lives in because it is grim.

Woks Cited

Baudelaire, Charles. The Carcass.

Baudelaire, Charles. Hymn to Beauty

Poe, Edgar A. The Fall of the House of Usher. London: Raintree, 2014. Print.