Although William L. Howarth claims that the characters in Poe's works are underdeveloped and inadequate, I believe that Poe is able to transform parts of himself into characters and interpret a deeper meaning in Poe's characters. actions and behaviors of these characters. These skills 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 Barrel 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 such as Roderick Usher and Lady Madeline to symbolize the mind and represent its internal battles for control. The house itself represents the mind, with Roderick and Lady Madeline representing two contrasting parts of the mind. The parts of the mind are having an internal power struggle. Roderick Usher represents the conscious part of the mind, defined in Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality as "the aspect of our mental processing that we can think and talk about rationally". Madeline represents the portion of the mind that the conscious mind wants to keep hidden from awareness. I believe this is why Roderick declared Madeline dead without actually examining her. This unconscious part of the mind, however, still has an influence on behavior. I believe the reason Roderick has started to get sick is because Madeline's illness is having an effect on his feelings and thoughts. The battle between Roderick and Madeline 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...... in the center of the card...... 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 contribute a personal touch to each of his characters, adding a deeper meaning to them and allowing the reader to truly connect to the characters. Works Cited "The Fall of the House of Usher" Symbolism, Imagery, and Allegory." Shmoop. Shmoop University, Inc., and Web. November 20, 2013. .Cummings, Michael. "Cummings Study Guide." The Raven. Contextual Notes Compiled by Michael J. Cummings, nd Web. 19 November 2013. .Hamilton, Rosemary. "83.03.06: Poe Lightly." 83.03.06: Poe Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, nd Web. 18 November. 2013. .