The True Meaning of the Raven | The Fall of the House of Usher
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- Опубликовано: 30 окт 2023
- HAPPY HALLOWSCREE! Today, we will be taking a look at the role of Verna, or the Raven, in Mike Flanagan's adaptation of the Fall of the House of Usher. We'll be discussing all the good stuff--death, the devil, seven deadly sins and of course, the scariest thing of all: the consequences of our own actions.
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CREDITS
Writing/narration - The Bat and the Raccoon
Art - www.artstation.com/fernacular Editing - / masterc0ntr. .
Music - @lofi geek • Haunted House 🎃 Lofi H...
SPECIAL THANKS
"The Raven" by Edgar Alan Poe, read by @Draikinator
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TBH I love that the full nature of Verna aka Raven remains ambiguous. She's otherworldly but never explained, and i think that's more satisfying from a storytelling perspective.
Bat in a raven costume ;-P
The animal mascots are adorably well drawn, shout-out to the artist.
The Raccoon did an amazing job with this one! Thanks so much for the kind words.
I think comparing the characters to their counterparts in Poe's lore is more interesting than by the deadly sins.
There are so many cool ways that the show reinterprets and contextualizes poe's works. Because that's where the brilliance of the show shines through.
I think you're right--I think someone with a more full appreciation for his body of work probably saw parallels I missed!
I read the siblings super differently sin wise. Prospero: Lust, Napoleon: Gluttony, Camille: Envy, Vic: Pride, Tammerlane: Sloth, Frederick: Wrath, and the twins: Greed.
Also, they key to prominent characters in Poe's work.
I switched Vic and Tammy. Sloth for Vic, her whole thing was that she basically did nothing, she was riding on her gfs coat tails, and everything about her story circled around her inaction. Tammy is just Pride personified. She got off watching her husband pretend other women were her, her house literally covered in mirrors, which were her downfall 💖
This analysis is spot on, but it’s important to remember that each of their sins only changed how death came to greet them… Their death was inevitable their choices under usher influence, and the sins they automatically embodied, led them to their own personal hells
@@averystewart3117 Yeah I completely agree. Verna also pointedly gave each of them chance to walk away from their awful ends, everyone except Frederick, who was particularly irredeemable. Power corrupted them all, but the children were always going to be fodder for Roderick and Madeline's choices. Brutal my guy
I don't see them as representing different classical sins, but as each dying from a flaw they learned or acquired from Roderick. The choices that get them killed directly call back to choices Roderick made, for which he himself didn't suffer the consequences.
She does explain she isnt the devil and seems to scoff at the idea. Seem closer to luck/fortune or fate when I watched it. She does tell them at in some cultures ravens are seen as "good luck".
I felt a little letdown by the premise as it came off when I first watched it. That a deal with the devil is the central plot. Because that was never where Poe looked for his horror. It was always the evil and pain we commit on ourselves or others. Your rational makes much more sense than a supernatural deal. But, instead a raven who comes at the moment of their final choice to step into their own dark fate. Thanks for this.
Ooo thx for this nice surprise today! Love ur videos :)
Thank you for watching!!
cannot believe this video only has 300ish likes your analysis is spot on
Thank you so much, spread the word! :)
An underrated scene I really like is Pym finding Morrie in the wreck of Perry's party. Pym can't possibly know who this survivor is, and he had every reason to want them to die so they can't potentially expose the truth, since he was sent in to cover up that this accident was Prospero's fault, and someone Prospero invited would obviously be able to say otherwise. Even if the Ushers could manage it, a survivor still makes cleanup a lot more complicated. But despite this, his immediate reaction was to alert the emergency services and in doing so, he saved the survivor's life.
Despite him not being a "good" character, this small, easily overlooked moment really struck me, especially on rewatch--because it's such a contrast to the Ushers in the end. Pym evidently did and still does horrible things. It's clear he has and still is willing to murder people. But even though he's perfectly willing to kill when ordered, his instinct at that moment was still to save a life, even if that life's survival made his life more difficult.
Contrast that with Victorine, who works in the business of saving lives--and chose to not alert the authorities and let someone she loved die because it was more convenient to her agenda.
An excellent analysis. Brava.
Love the Halloween costume!
Thank you! It was really funny, we were right about to put the sprites in and the Raccoon though it would be adorable. She was right.
I agree with a lot that was said especially your analysis of madeline but at 13:56 you say that verna gave the children an escape from death which I don’t believe to be true. They were ALWAYS going to die because of the deal I think. I believe that Verna only gave the children an option to die peacefully. Like she says “you couldve died in your sleep” frequently but I don’t believe the children were never NOT going to die
The point wasn't that they weren't going to die, the point was that they could have chosen to die a normal, peaceful death. They all chose to die violently.
@@Kaipyro67ALT ah then i misunderstood what bat was saying
I’ve always felt like she is the embodiment of karma personified
The reading of Verna as consequence explains something that I've seen many be confused about that isn't satisfied by other explanations, and that's Leo's death. Because Leo never actually killed the cat, I've seen people express confusion as to why Verna tormented him the way she did. The answer is obvious: Verna, and the cat, represent the consequences of his dishonesty in general and his substance abuse in particular. His fate is actually more similar to Tamerlane; like her, he is tormented by hallucinations that reflect his flaws. Leo's fundamental issue is his willingness to lie to avoid addressing the impact of his vices so he can continue to indulge in them, rather than being honest and having to change.
Leo is introduced to the audience lying to his boyfriend as he cheats on him. Leo then appears to kill his boyfriend's cat in a drug-fueled rage--and covers it up by buying an identical cat, despite Verna trying to get him to do otherwise. From then on, as he doubles down on refusing to acknowledge the damage he's causing through his substance abuse, he is the only person who sees and witnesses the harm inflicted upon him by the cat. This is because his confrontation with the cat stands in the place of the internal confrontation he should be having over his substance abuse, which is what's actually hurting him, and which everyone else can see and everyone who actually cares (his boyfriend) points out to him. Characters outside looking in see his erratice behavior as the concern - but he sees the cat as the problem, a circumstance itself brought on _by_ his substance abuse (in more ways than one, given the cat is both a cover for his bad trip and a hallucination itself).
The cat isn't Verna's random torture method. The cat is a consequence of Leo's drug abuse. If he had changed his mind, got a different cat, and decided to be honest about his (believed) killing of Pluto, Leo could have gotten help, and probably wouldn't have died in a violent drug-fueled rage chasing a cat only he could see over his own balcony.
Thank you for this. I loved this take, it was so true!
You're welcome! Thanks for watching, sorry for the late rely lol
@@idlescree It's ok and you are welcome✌✌🙂
I love it!!! Happy Halloween!!!!!
Excellent video!
I believe verna was some kind of death fairy. Someone who works with death and let's people choose their own path
Bat with a raven costume is ADORABLE 🥹🥹❤️
Not a robot! :D
Verna made me remember Gaunter O'Dimm from The Witcher 3 but with more compassion, the names of O'Dimm were Master of Mirrors or Mister Mirrors, he had a hobby of making deals with horrible people, that have always ended one way or another with him winning, whatever his victim lived or die, as his nicknames implies he was a reflection of the despicable people that he made deals with, but he far more sinister, for example killing someone only because he annoy him.
Love this breakdown. Thank u🩷
Glad you enjoyed it!!
This is such an accurate characterization of Verna that destroys the devil theories with simple logic.
Fun fact: in Russian lore, death is female.
Also, I'd be interested in your take on the portrayal of death in the Discworld book series. Especially in Hogfather, Thief of Time, and Soul Music.
Freaking love Hogfather.
man oh man, I actually went to watch this video just cause I like your work and now I kinda want to watch it?? even though creepy and spooky stuff was never my cup of tea lol TT
Such a good show. Highly recommend the Fall of the House of Usher.
Answer - Verna is an “angel/cosmic being of judgement.” People choose heaven/hell in their life choices, she merely met them at their time of death for judgement
i was pretty sure the seven deadly sins thing was debunked by Flanagan, also the cat didn't actually die he hallucinated that too
There was never a option for the next gez to avoid the death their fate was sealed when rod made the deal with the devil
And she asked fred's wife to go away even though she came to the party to cheat on her husband and choose 100's of others to die for what reasons and the fred downfall started when raven start meddling with their life, and getting victorine's partner killed for animal experiments may be but what about those scientists who found victorine they were involved too
If you're or anyone interested in an overarching spin on the concept of death I very much reccomend a VN "Slay the Princess"
I think for me, the raven is neither good nor bad. She is like a good omen & bad omen together. Carla did a good job of portraying multiple characters in this show. Great masterpiece of portraying Edgar Allan Poe's work. 😊 and i wouldn't take up that deal that they made with the raven. 😢nope.
I would’ve really applied the 7 sins differently, say for the Roderick, Madeline and Victorine.
Prospero (Perry) - Lust
Camille - Envy
Napoleon (Leo) - Gluttony
Victorine - Greed
Tamerlane - Sloth
Frederick - Wrath
I think I disagree on your take on Madeline. Everything was her idea. She was calling the shots and wearing the pants in the siblings relationship from the beginning. From going to confront there dad for help, to planning the backstabbing of the ceo of the company. Rodrick was the one that rolled with the punches. She never married, she was the only usher that actually made anything on her own (the algorithm shit/AI she was working on). That’s what I got from it anyway.
The 7 deadly sins theory was debunked by Flanagan on his Tumblr.
Death of the author baybeee! In all seriousness while Flanagan may not have intended those references that doesn't make it an invalid way of interpreting the text and nowhere i saw in the video did the bat say he deliberately constructed it that way, it's just a neat lens through which to see the characters. Happy belated Halloween!