The Headless Horseman

Fall of the House of Usher

Do I trust the narrator is the question we are supposed to answer for this paper, for me I don’t really have a reason to trust or distrust the narrator. The narrator never really tells us who he is other then somebody that know the proprietor. The overall story is about how he visits his friend who’s twin sister dies from a disease, and his friend seems to be sick also.

The reason I don’t distrust the narrator is that most of the details he tells seems to be believable. He talks about how the proprietor, Roderick Usher, “had been one of my boom companions in boyhood” (Poe), and that he knew him so that adds some trust to the narrator. He also goes into detail about the house and most of the details seems believable. The narrator doesn’t use any description that would be unbelievable some may be a little farfetched such as calling it a “mansion of gloom” (Poe) which really isn’t a reason to distrust him. The owner does greet him at one point with vivacious warmth which show that the Roderick knows him and trusts him which does make him more of a trustworthy person.

The reason I would distrust him is the fact he never clearly identifies himself. While reading this story he talks about how he has known the proprietor but never really gives us any detail about his past or any other important detail in that matter. He brings up how he knew him in boy hood but doesn’t explain how, Which to me is a big red flag we don’t really know who the narrator is which does add an element of distrust.

Overall I don’t really have enough detail to trust or distrust the narrator. The story is told in such a way as to make it hard to determine one way or the other.

Works Cited

Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Fall of the House of Usher” The Norton Anthology of American