The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard begins his book, The Deadly Sickness, thus: “Man is spirit. But what is spirit? Spirit is the self. But what is the self? The self is a relationship that relates to itself." I mean The Fall of the House Usher in these terms; the story is a description of the sick self, the sick spirit, the mortally morbid human being. The title provides a reasonable summary of the story: the subject is the House of Usher and what happens to the House is a fall. That would be simple enough, but things are complicated by the fact that the phrase “House of Usher” has more than one meaning; the phrase can mean "both the family and the family villa". However, as you read the story, it becomes quite clear that these two meanings do not represent two different realities, but rather, they are two different representations of the same reality. The House of Usher, literal and physical, is a dilapidated mansion, isolated in a bleak and hostile environment. The figurative House Usher is the Usher family, which also exists in a state of isolation: the Usher genealogy is characterized by consanguineous marriages. It is quite possible that this consanguinity was the cause of Roderick Usher's illness - he complains of "a constitutional and familial evil". (Madeline's illness may also be linked to this inbreeding.) Likewise, isolation in a humid environment caused the ruin of the Usher family mansion. These parallels indicate that the two meanings of the phrase “House of Usher” refer to the same thing. However, what exactly does the House symbolize? I take it to symbolize the totality of humanity's constituents of an aesthetically, morally and spiritually... middle of paper... rick. That is to say, a self-reflection exists naturally without you doing anything to bring it into existence, but you ignore it until you begin to look at yourself. As soon as Madeline appears dead, Roderick buries her safely in a vault, and this perhaps reflects the sick person's subconscious emotional aversion to the sight of himself. Of course, one would also want to avoid having one's self-reflection dissected and studied by others and this would be consistent with Roderick's stated intent in burying it so securely. However, self-reflection cannot help but exist, and it is about chasing Roderick. Emotionally overwhelmed by the sight of himself, the sufferer ceases introspection, but this is a surrender of his humanity to destruction. And so, the House of Usher falls. Works Cited The Fall of the House of Usher The Deadly Disease