The Dark Secrets Behind Roderick's Relentless Legacy in the House of Usher

Warning: This article includes spoilers for The Fall of the House of Usher.

Summary

Roderick held the belief that a brief existence filled with affluence and prospects outweighed a prolonged existence marked by hardship and average accomplishments. Witnessing his mother's agonizing demise, he was convinced that his drug empire could eradicate suffering from the world.

While Roderick's personal ideology appeared selfless, it was in reality propelled by his own egotism and craving for riches. He struck a deal with the devil, fully aware that the price would be the lives of his six children.

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Roderick's decision to persist in having children, fully aware of their inevitable early demise, surpasses even Madeline in terms of cruelty. He prioritized his personal sense of purpose and the perpetuation of his lineage over the well-being of his offspring, convinced that only the heartless could thrive in this world.

"Incredible how one can go so far by evading the truth," Roderick Usher confesses to Augie during his final revelation in The Fall of the House of Usher. This hints at the reasons behind Roderick's continuous reproduction, despite the foreknowledge of his children's impending fate. There exist numerous interpretations of his conclusive "confession" to the man who had been tirelessly striving to dismantle his criminal empire for decades. This brood, consisting of six children from five different mothers, was repeatedly brought into the world by Roderick, fully aware that their lives would be tragically short-lived and marked by horrific deaths.

Roderick Thought A Short Life Of Wealth Was Better Than A Long Life Of Struggling

There are numerous possibilities behind the decision of the Rothe Usher patriarch to keep reproducing, despite it seeming peculiar for a father to condemn his children to short lives. Mike Flanagan's Netflix horror, based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe, delves into various reasons for this. Whether he was a sadist who desired to offer immense wealth and abruptly sever it, displayed a remarkable level of carelessness, or had some other motive tied to Madeline's use of an IUD to prevent childbirth, the underlying cause can be found in The Fall of the House of Usher's timeline. This includes his troubled upbringing and the desire to establish an empire centered around opioids with Fortunado Pharmaceuticals.

Roderick had never experienced the luxuries of a wealthy existence until his mother ended Longeford's life. From that moment, he made a firm commitment to himself—he would never turn his back on his children, unlike his own father. Being excluded and rejected had left a deep impact on him, and thus he resolved that no one with the Usher name would ever face closed gates. This notion became the foundation of his personal philosophy, and he built his fortune upon a medication that promised to bring about a "world free from suffering."

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For Roderick, a brief life filled with abundant opportunities seemed preferable to a lengthy existence marred by hardships. Witnessing his mother deteriorate and eventually pass away without finding relief for her suffering, Roderick believed that Fortunado and its miraculous medication held the potential to revolutionize the world. In his eyes, the desired outcomes made any means justifiable. He saw a condensed existence, akin to his luxurious $4 million cognac, as far superior to enduring a protracted life burdened by unremarkable monotony.

Roderick Was Only Thinking Of Himself & His Wealth, Not His Children

Although his initial confession implies altruism, it ultimately reveals his true motive of greed. This final quote exposes the pact he made with the devil to attain immense wealth. Initially, a part of him attempted to deny the unsavory actions required for his fortune, but in the end, he could only confront the grave consequences marked by the deaths of his six children.

"I was aware, as the witching hour approached, that I would ascend to the pinnacle of success atop a heap of corpses. Despite our claims of alleviating the world's suffering, it was the most significant lie we uttered. Pain cannot be eradicated, and there is no such thing as a panacea. Even if we had disclosed this truth, I am certain it would not have hindered our sales."

Roderick Continuing To Have Children In House Of Usher Makes Him Worse Than Madeline

He was aware that his cure-all pain-reliever was a deceitful marketing ploy, similar to the actions of the Sackler Family responsible for the opioid crisis in America. Consequently, the Usher name became synonymous with the demise and deterioration of a nation that suffered tens of thousands of deaths due to the highly addictive nature of the product. Despite his attempts to convey his intentions to those close to him or the media, only Madeline comprehended the motives behind his actions, except for someone ready to kill in order to safeguard family secrets.

While Madeline may have been a ruthless collaborator, nothing compared to the cold-hearted act of Roderick, who knowingly condemned his two children, Annabel Lee, to an untimely death. Astonishingly, he then went on to have four more children who, inevitably, suffered the same fate. After the first child, Prospero, met his demise, Camille aptly remarked, "Opportunity pays no heed to personal struggles," suggesting that only those lacking empathy and compassion could rise to the top, as mere ideas held no value without financial backing.

The Usher family's legacy relied on survival and adaptability. As Roderick faced his degenerative disease, he rejected Madeline's virtual method of immortality. Instead, he desired to live on through his own children, seeing them as his creation and the only meaningful thing he had accomplished. Despite the fact that his offspring, like himself, never achieved anything of significance, the act of bringing them into existence gave him a slight sense of purpose and a "true resolution" in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher".