The Gothic Style and Magical Realism

In the world of literature, two literary works are known for their mysterious and
gloomy atmospheres: The Fall of The House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, which is a gothic
style work, and House Taken over by Julio Cortázar's magical realism work. As much as they
are similar, they are also very different. Essentially, we will define each term and briefly talk
about each story.

Gothic style is a mysterious world defined by drama, suspense, and terror. It was
popular in the first times of the 18th century. And also the story of this genre that we will talk
about is The Fall of The House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe. In the story, The author arrives
at the house of Usher after receiving a letter from Usher requesting the alleviation of his
problems. The author was stuck in a gloomy and terrifying environment. Usher's mental and
physical state were relatively deprived, and the author read to comfort him, except as he was
reading, a noise emerged from the depth of the house. Usher, in extreme agitation,
confessed that he buried his sister Madelina alive because of the scientific experiments the
doctors may have held on her. After this dreadful confession, Madelina comes back to end
her brother’s life as well as the house of the Usher.

Magical realism, on the other hand, is defined as the free expression by objective
means of the subjective feelings of an individual or group, such as through art, music, poetry,
and dancing. It became known in the 1960s, specifically in Latin America. House Taken Over
by Julio Cortázar is the story that we are going to analyze for this literacy writing. The story
starts with an old house that the two siblings, Irene and the story's narrator, lived in. The
siblings had a typical routine that they followed every single day. After they finish the
housework, Irene rushes to her knitting; her brother, on the other hand, watches her knitting,
and sometimes he reads a book. His favorites were French literature books. As the story
goes on, we notice something unnatural about the house. There are many noises of weird
creatures, and these creatures, “Them,” take the back part of the house. The part where
their important stuff is. After a few days at night, the narrator was in the kitchen drinking
water, and then the noises appeared. He ran to his sister's room, and after they were sure
that it was “Them,” they escaped the house, leaving it locked so no one would encounter
“Them.”

Gothic style, as we mentioned earlier, is the puzzled environment described by

drama, suspense, and terror. The Fall of The House of Usher is an excellent example of the
gothic genre not only because the author himself has many other works related to this genre
but also because it contains most of the gothic elements. The setting is the main element of
the Gothic style. Traditionally, it is a mansion or a castle. In the story of The Fall of The
House of Usher, the setting is in an old, gigantic house. As the narrator walks into the house,
we realize that there is an atmosphere full of mystery and suspense- also, this is an element
of gothic style. The mystery and suspense in the story are explained with overly wrought
emotions; moreover, this is an element of gothic literature. As the story progresses, the
Usher sings the verses titled ‘The Haunted Palace ’with his stringed instrument. These
verses were the provision of what would happen next, clearly describing the emergency of a
bad ending. Omens, portents, and visions are part of gothic literature. Usher’s sister,
Madelina, was buried alive, trying to survive. Women being in distress is another element of
the Gothic style. And our last element is the metonymy of gloom and horror. The house that
is deteriorating and the family with each individual deteriorating is an example of the
metonymy of gloom and horror.

Free expression of an individual's or group's subjective feelings through objective

methods was the definition of magical realism. House Taken Over is an ideal example of
magical realism. Most, if not many, of the genre elements make up the story. Our first point is
the realistic setting. In the story, it was not a mansion or a castle. It was an extraordinary
house in Argentina. We also can understand from the story that the author has provided us
with many details relating to Argentina’s social and political status, which is our second point.
The third point is the blurriness between reality and fantasy; in the story, after “Them” had
taken over the house, the siblings did not leave the house or react to the situation as they
should have. In the story, “Them” are considered part of the world's reality while they are not.
Lastly, there is limited information on the fantastical element. It is the plot of the story. The
author has not told us the names of the creatures of the house. Not a single detail was
mentioned in the story about them.

After we have analyzed each literary style and the story of the literary style in detail,
we can differentiate between magical realism and the gothic style. Setting in literary style is
different; magical realism has a typical setting, while in gothic style, the setting is linked to
the story. The second difference is women being in distress; this only happened in the gothic
story, and linking the social and political status of a place was only provided in the magical
realism story. The third difference is the plot of both. In the Fall of The House of Usher, the
plot is well-defined, while in The House Taken Over, it is not. Lastly, the magical elements of
each story are explained differently. In the Fall of The House of Usher, supernatural
elements are described in detail. In contrast, in House Taken Over, magical elements are
roughly explained.

In conclusion, the gothic style with its six elements- setting, atmosphere full of
mystery and suspense, overly wrought emotions, omens, portents and visions, Women
being in distress, and finally, the metonymy of gloom and horror- and magical realism with its
five elements - realistic setting, socially and politically charged information, blurriness
between reality and fantasy and last but not least limited information on the fantastical
elements- and the stories as well as both being similar in the mysterious and gloomy
environment but also both are different in the setting and magical elements. Both are also
essential components of the literary world, and both affect it.

Resources
1. www.saylor.org/engl203/#2.3.1
2. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1496&context=
etd
3. https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/30292/1/4582_Milton.pdf
4. https://www.jstor.org/stable/460316?read-now=1#page_scan_tab_contents#