e quietly. According to the narrator, Lady Madeline “passed slowly through a remote portion of the apartment, and without having noticed his presence, disappeared”(465). Overall Madeline Usher appears to be completely overcome by a mental disorder. Roderick Usher, the head of the house, is an educated man, descending from a wealthy family. Once an attractive man, “the character of his face had been at all time remarkable” (464). However, his appearance had since deteriorated. Roderick had changed so much that “the narrator doubted to whom he spoke”(464). Roderick’s altered appearance probably was caused by his mental condition overtaking his body. 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”(464). These are “the features of the mental disorder of the narrator’s friend”(465). Roderick’s state worsens throughout the story. He becomes increasingly restless and unstable, especially after the burial of his sister. He is unable to sleep and claims that he hears noises. In contrast to Roderick, the narrator appears to be a man of common sense. He seems to be a compassionate man coming to comfort a dying friend from boyhood. He seems educated and analytic. He observes Usher and concludes that his friend has a mental disorder. The narrator’s tone suggests that he cannot understand Usher. However, he himself is superstitious. When he looks upon the house, even before he met Roderick Usher, he observes “here can be no doubt that the consciousness of the rapid increase of my superstition” (463). The narrato...
