“Things Fall Apart; the Centre Cannot Hold”: Roderick Usher's Challenges with Sensory Processing in “The Fall of the House of Usher”

Abstract

Abstract Roderick Usher is afflicted with what Poe terms “a morbid acuteness” of his senses. This article examines Poe's knowledge of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century medical discourse that likely piqued his interest in diseases of the senses, leading to his diagnosing the condition afflicting the Usher family as “unnatural sensations.” This article argues that Roderick's affliction is comparable to Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), a neurological disorder that causes atypical responses to sensory stimuli. Researchers have determined that adults with SPD often experience depression, anxiety, isolation, and fear because of the brain's inability to process and integrate sensory input appropriately. The instability and disorganization of the Usher mansion that Poe depicts, the dire consequences from loss of mental control he expresses through “The Haunted Palace,” and the shocking fate of Roderick's expiring after extreme sensory overload reveal the horror of Usher's malady—and Poe's ability to transmute medical information into Gothic art.