Although William L. Howarth has stated that the characters in Poe's works are underdeveloped and inadequate, I believe Poe is capable of transforming parts of himself -even in characters and to interpret a deeper meaning in the actions and behaviors of these characters. These abilities are illustrated in most of his characters. However, they are most evident in characters such as Lady Madeline and Roderick in "The Fall of the House of Usher", Montresor and Fortunado in "The Cask of Amontillado", and the raven in the famous poem "The Raven". In “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe, Poe uses characters like Roderick Usher and Lady Madeline to symbolize the spirit and represent its internal battles for control. The house itself represents the mind, with Roderick and Lady Madeline representing two contradictory parts of the mind. The parts of the mind wage an internal struggle for power. Roderick Usher represents the conscious part of the mind, which is defined in Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality as "that aspect of our mental processing about which we can think and speak rationally." Madeline represents the part of the mind that the conscious mind wants to keep hidden from awareness. I believe this is why Roderick declared Madeline dead without really examining her. This unconscious part of the mind, however, still has an influence on behavior. I believe the reason Roderick started getting sick is because Madeline's illness is having an effect on his feelings and thoughts. Roderick and Madeline's battle symbolizes the battle within the mind, and ultimately the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind destroy each other. In the story this is symbolized by Roderick and Madeline bo...... middle of paper ...... this is because they do not have the ability to fully understand the depth of the characters. I think Poe is a literary genius because he is able to bring a personal touch to each of his characters, which adds deeper meaning to them and allows the reader to truly connect with the characters. Works Cited "The Fall of the House of Usher Symbolism, Imagery, and Allegory. Shmoop. Shmoop University, Inc., nd Web. November 20, 2013. .Cummings, Michael. "Cummings Study Guide." The Raven. Briefing Notes compiled by Michael J. Cummings, nd Web November 19, 2013. .Hamilton, Rosemary. “83.03.06: Poe Slightly.”. 2013. .