"The House of Usher" and "The House of Seven Gables"
The House of Usher and the House of Seven Gables have many similarities. Both of these structures are ominous. They are towering mansions of doom, despair and dread. Their inhabitants are ill either physically, emotionally, or both. They both belong to a specific family. The House of Usher belongs to the Ushers. It always has. The same is true of the House of Seven Gables. It has always belonged to the Pyncheon family. Both structures are old and decaying. Both reflect the mood of their inhabitants. Both have been intimately involved in the death of a character. There are a few differences though. The House of Usher seems to have taken on qualities and features of a human being. It is described relating many of its architecture and landscape to the features of a human face and body. The House of Seven Gables isn’t personified this way. At the end of the story, the House of Usher collapses and is washed away by the tarn. The House of Seven Gables stills stands at the end of the story and in fact the historic house still stands today. The house of Usher had a hand in the deaths of Roderick and Madeline. They are the long time residents of the house. Jaffrey Pyncheon dies in the House of Seven Gables, but he does not live in this dwelling, but the two are connected none the less. The biggest difference between the two stories is that Usher’s ending is sad and terrible and Seven Gables ending is happy. The Ushers couldn’t escape their house, but the Pyncheons could.