Authors often use metaphors and symbols as techniques to make statements about characters. Character often lives parallel lives in novels and short stories and it is with great pleasure that we learn from them. Writers employ several different techniques to engage readers. Two stories that illustrate powerful symbolism are "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Each of these stories bring us into characters by allowing us see them change n a radical way. In "The Fall of the House of Usher," Poe uses the house as a metaphor for the narrator and Roderick's condition. The readers' attention is initially drawn to Roderick, whom we suspect might be mentally unstable. Through careful technique and xxx, Poe manages to illustrate how the fall of the house represents the fall of both the narrator and Roderick. In the same way, The Scarlet Letter demonstrates how one person can fall through another type of symbol and that is hidden but, nevertheless, powerful. Both stories demonstrate how the human mind can break down over time, given the right circumstances.
             At the beginning of "The Fall of the House of Usher," the narrator appears to be perfectly sane; however, this changes over time. By utilizing this technique, Poe is confirming the "autonomy of the unconscious, by whose inexorable powers are revealed the deepest truths of the soul" (Hoffman 175). Poe allows us to see the two men against each other – one insane and, the other, seemingly normal. As the story progresses, Roderick's madness is projected onto the narrator. The "switch" occurs after the two men bury Madeline. We are told that after the incident, the narrator experiences the "full power of such feelings" (Poe 46). He also has difficulty sleeping and struggles "to reason off the nervousness which had dominion over me&qu...