Literal and Figurative Journeys

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Madalina Lazar February 25, 2013 ENC-1102 24199 Literal and Figurative Journeys A story is only as interesting as its characters. What would a story be if its characters were bland and never went through anything? In nearly all short stories, the characters undergo either literal or figurative journeys. I’d like to analyze the figurative and literal journey of the narrator in The Fall of the House of Usher, the figurative journey of Emily in A Rose for Emily, and the literal journey of Goodman Brown in Young Goodman Brown. In the short story, The Fall of the House of Usher, the narrator undergoes a figurative and literal journey throughout the story. In the beginning of the story, the narrator approaches the house of his friend unknowing of the horrors that lay ahead of him. His journey begins as he walks up to the deteriorating Usher house where sick Roderick is awaiting him. He walks inside the house and is a bit taken back by its spookiness. The narrator learns about Roderick’s issues with fear and paranoia and his sister Madeline’s catalepsy. I believe that by this point, the narrator is ready to head back home. Instead he remains at the house to try to boost Roderick’s spirits, with no prevail. The narrator’s beliefs about the house itself being unhealthy and depressing are confirmed when Madeline dies. The burial of Madeline in the tombs underneath the Usher house disturbs the narrator but also reveals to him that Roderick and Madeline are twins. The narrator is taken through a crazy emotional roller coaster towards the end of the story. He is shocked to discover that they had buried Madeline alive and seemed terrified when he saw her standing in front of him drenched in blood from her struggle to get out of her grave. After Madeline and Roderick both die, the house crumbles to the ground and the narrator flees (probably to the nearest bar after what he
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