A Comparison Essay - Edited.edited

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A comparison between The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Poe and The Student by
Anton Chekhov
When the two stories start, there is an eerie feeling that something terrible might happen
with both the authors introducing the stories. The authors create mysterious and gothic images
with the way they introduce their readers into the settings. For Example, in the story of the house
of Usher, the narrator introduces us to his world by saying that he is approaching the House of
Usher, the estate of his childhood friend, on a dark, gloomy, and silent day. He observes that the
house seemed evilly mysterious, noting the diseased environment from the rotting trees and
muddy ponds around it. He also notes that even though the house is rotting in some places,
individual stones are degenerating in that there is a small crack in the front of the building from
the roof to the ground, though the building itself appears equally solid. He also states that he had
gone to the house because his friend had sent him a letter earnestly requesting his company.
On the other hand, in the story of the Student, the setting is such that the narrator, Ivan, is
coming from hunting in the forest, and the sun is setting. This means that darkness is setting in,
and it is getting cold and quiet, which brings an unsettling feeling to the narrator. Ivan says that
he feels the cold wind biting into his flesh, a description that builds anticipation to the readers
that something terrible is about to happen.

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As both the stories continue, the reader of the short story "The Student" is placed out of
his/her wild imagination and starts relaxing because the narrator passes by the widows’ garden
and sits with them, Vasilisa and Lukerya, for a while as he tells them the story of one of Jesus’s
disciples, Peter, after seeing a similar action of warming of hands that was performed by the
Apostle on a similarly cold night. This story affects his listeners, who are the widows as it brings
out a lot of their emotions. Ivan observes them and concludes that if the story brought out such
intense emotional reactions from his listeners then it has a relation to their lives and further
concludes that it affects all the lives of other people too. This makes him even more eager to get
home and be with his family. On the contrary, in the story of the fall of the House of Usher, we
find out more about the history of the Usher and how their descendants have never succeeded as
this darkness follows the family all through its generations. This further creates unsettling
feelings to the readers because more mysterious happenings are expected from the story. The
readers' disconcerting feelings are further cemented that Lady Madeline has this mysterious
ailment called catalepsy. This disease makes one lose control of his/her limbs while her brother
Roderick suffers from nerves, which the narrator still finds odd.
The story that Ivan tells the widows about Peter’s betrayal to Jesus is very similar to how
Roderick betrays his sister by assuming she’s dead just because of her mobility and buries her
alive. The widows relate to the story by reacting very emotionally as it reflects their lives and
how they have suffered betrayal at the hands of their loved ones. For instance, Lukerya is wary
of Ivan and comes out as closed off because of the abuse she faced at her husband's hands. Peter
also felt terrible after he realized that Jesus was right about his prediction regarding his betrayal,
and he goes off, crying after the cock crows. Similarly, that one evening, when Roderick and the
narrator can't sleep, he leads her to a window where he sees brightly visible gas. Afterwards,
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Roderick starts becoming wary of the sounds he hears and concludes that his sister wasn't dead
and is trying to escape, then says that she is behind the door. He realizes his betrayal by burying
his sister alive. After her ghost attacks him, he dies of fear.
The story of "The Student" by Anton reflects hope, and that past happenings relate to the
future. This is proven with how the narrator, Ivan, becomes very happy and hopeful after telling
the widows the story of Peter's betrayal to Jesus and notices their reaction. He becomes more
eager than he was before regarding going home because he says that he seems tired of the
endless cycle of repeating the same thing. He feels that by sharing his story, he brings about the
hope of change in the coming future. On the contrary, the story of the fall of the House of Usher
is full of fear. The story is very horrific such that from the word go, fear is prevalent in every
aspect of the story. First, the narrator fears the house since it appears to be surrounded by evil
and mystery but gathers courage because his friend needs him. Secondly, he does everything to
distract themselves while they are in the house to pass the days away without dwelling on the
looming doom that surrounds the house and its inhabitants. Lastly, all his fears are confirmed
after witnessing Lady Madeline's ghost and how it attacks Roderick, something that makes him
run from the house as it falls with its last inhabitants.

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Work Cited
Chekhov, Anton. “The Student”. 1894
Poe, Edgar Allan. The fall of the house of Usher. Vol. 661. Prabhat Prakashan, 1973.

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Surname 1

that something terrible is about to happen.

run from the house as it falls with its last inhabitants.

Chekhov, Anton. “The Student”. 1894

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