He helps bury her and put her away in a vault, but when she reappears, he flees. Poe seems to present her as a ghostlike figure. Before she was buried, she roamed around the house quietly not noticing anything. According to the narrator, Lady Madeline “passed slowly through a remote portion of the apartment, and without having noticed his presence, disappeared”(668). Overall Madeline Usher appears to be completely overcome by mental disorder.Roderick Usher, the head of the house, is an educated man. He comes from a rather wealthy family and owns a huge library. He had once been an attractive man and “the character of his face had been at all time remarkable” (667). However, his appearance deteriorated over time. Roderick had changed so much that “the narrator doubted to whom he spoke”(667). Roderick’s altered appearance probably was caused by his insanity. The narrator notes various symptoms of insanity from Roderick’s behaviors: “in the manner of my friend I was struck with an incoherence…an inconsistency…habitual trepidancy, and excessive nervous agitation. His action was alternately vivacious and sullen. His voice varied rapidly from a tremulous indecision to that of the lost drunkard, or the irreclaimable eater of opium”(667). These are “the features of the mental disorder of the narrator’s friend”(672). Roderick’s state worsens throughout the story. He becomes increasingly restless and unstable, especially after the burial of his sister. He is not able to sleep and claims that he hears noises. All in all, he is an unbalanced man trying to maintain an balance is his life. In contrast to Roderick, the narrator appears to be a man of common sense. He seems to have a good heart in that he comes to help a friend from his boyhood. He is also educated and analytical. He observes Usher and concludes that his friend has a m...
