The Enigmatic Power of Madeline: Unveiling her Role in The Fall of the House of Usher

Warning: Major spoilers for Netflix's The Fall of the House of Usher.

Summary

Madeline's statement "You are insignificantly small" carries great importance within The Fall of the House of Usher, representing the Usher family's relentless quest for riches and their ethical deterioration.

The brick bearing this quote serves as a poignant reminder for Griswold, illustrating how his insatiable desire for power ultimately led to his tragic downfall, underscoring the repercussions of his choices.

The repetition of Madeline's quote emphasizes her shallow viewpoint, highlighting the realization that gaining material wealth has come at the expense of integrity and moral values. In The Fall of the House of Usher, Madeline's "You are so small" line holds immense importance within the narrative. The show navigates between two timelines, revealing the choices that led Madeline and Roderick from poverty to affluence, while also exploring the consequences of their actions in the present day. In the past timeline of The Fall of the House of Usher, a pivotal decision made by Madeline and Roderick on New Year's Eve in 1979 not only grants them unimaginable riches but also seals the fate of the Usher family.

Motivated by a relentless desire for vengeance, the Usher siblings murder Griswold by trapping him within a barricade of bricks. To further humiliate him, Madeline places a brick inscribed with the demeaning words "You are so small" in front of Griswold's face. This haunting quote represents the essence of The Fall of the House of Usher, encapsulating the actions the Ushers take to achieve success, only to ultimately experience their downfall.

Madeline's "You Are So Small" Brick Repeats What Annabel Lee Told Her

Long before Madeline locks Rufus in a enclosure with a brick engraved with the words "You are so small," Annabel says the same thing to her. In a flashback found in episode 7 of The Fall of the House of Usher, it is revealed that Roderick initially pretended to support Dupin but ultimately betrayed him at the last moment. When Annabel discovers this and witnesses her husband's arrest for perjury, she confronts Madeline. Madeline proceeds to explain how Roderick's deception allowed him to become the most important employee in Fortunato, boosting his chances of advancing up the corporate ladder. She even reveals that the whole case worked in their favor, as Dupin was unable to prove the perjury.

However, Annabel is taken aback by the fact that Roderick chose to take the morally compromised path instead of exposing a corrupt individual like Rufus Griswold and aiding Dupin. When Madeline tries to belittle Annabel for genuinely caring about Roderick's well-being and his declining moral compass, Annabel realizes how narrow-minded Madeline's perspective is towards the world. She comprehends that Madeline only values material wealth and is willing to do anything to achieve it, disregarding the importance of relationships and righteousness. Because of this, Annabel refers to Madeline as "small," highlighting how far she has fallen and how greatly she has compromised her integrity and moral values in pursuit of success.

Why Madeline Seals In Gris' Body With The "You Are So Small" Quote

Griswold's final storyline in The Fall of the House of Usher draws heavily from Edgar Allan Poe's short story, The Cask of Amontillado. In this tale, a man seeks revenge on a wine expert named Fortunato by luring him into a catacomb and burying him alive. Similarly, Madeline and Roderick exact their revenge on Griswold because, despite initially favoring them after they deceived Dupin, he insulted them and their mother by reminding them of her relationship with Mr. Longfellow. Furthermore, Griswold had manipulated his position of power to further his own agendas and had benefited from Roderick's efforts.

To emphasize that Griswold's life and power were ultimately meaningless, Madeline places a brick with the inscription "You are so small." This brick serves as the final blow, reminding him during his final moments that his pursuit of power and influence had left him morally bankrupt and led to his tragic demise. A similar theme recurs in the Netflix series by Mike Flanagan, where Madeline herself recalls being called "small" by Annabel and questions whether her wealth and power were truly worth the cost. As The Fall of the House of Usher concludes, it becomes clear that both Madeline and Roderick have also succumbed to moral decay and have become irredeemably "small" in character.