Defamiliarizing Symbols in Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher: A Formalist analysis

Abstract

This study investigates the symbolic elements of Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, with an emphasis on the ways in which the text defamiliarizes well-known symbols to highlight the themes of decay, insanity, and unavoidable devastation. This study examines the transformation of key symbols, including the decaying house, the air, the lake, the blood-red moon, and Roderick Usher's sickness, to uncover a disturbing and frightening effect on the reader, using a Formalist approach and Defamiliarization Theory. To closely analyze specific passages in the text, Greenham close reading method is employed to identify the ways in which Poe employs language and imagery to construct and defamiliarize these symbols. The study contributes to a more profound comprehension of the emotional and psychological complexity in Poe's work by emphasizing the defamiliarization of these symbols.