What do our two characters have in common other than the simple fact that they are losing their minds. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Poe tells the story of an individual deeply tormented by a dying sister and a long series of family accidents. He is a prisoner in his own mind, with no possibility of escape. As in “The YellowWallpaper,” Gilman is about a woman deeply tormented by her own mind. She is drawn into a reality of her own, where she is the only one who can free herself. While being prisoners, these two main characters share a common theme and sense of symbolism in the way they live and behave each day. The plots, although very different, each tell a unique story of impressions and the death of one's own mind. Imprisonment itself can be a terrible tragedy. Roderick in The Fall of the House of Usher is a prisoner in his own mind. He's trapped in the house because he feels like it's the only place he belongs. In a dialogue between the narrator and Roderick, we see evidence of this: “For an abnormal species of terror I found him a bound slave. “I will perish,” he said, “I must perish in this deplorable madness. So, thus and not otherwise, I will be lost. I fear future events, not in themselves, but in their results. I shudder at the thought of any incident, even the most insignificant, which could act on this intolerable agitation of the soul”” (Poe 235). As with the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper,” we see that she is also a prisoner in her own mind. A little dialogue between the narrator and her husband John tells us of her belief in this thought: “John is so happy to see me improving! He laughed a little... middle of paper ... the character is very different but they both share the same notion of imprisonment within themselves. Roderick is fighting battles in his brain over whether his actions were right, and will do so. the resurrection of his sister will actually take place. Will she be a dead but living ghost of who she was? And would she come after him? Yes and yes, as you could see, she came back and she came after Roderick. As for the old woman, she was an steadfast woman, strong and sure of everything and it was the yellow wallpaper that ultimately drove her to madness. Both start sane and end insane. However, everyone has a completely different way of going about it. Roderick and the Old Lady both struggle with their own demons in their heads at the end of their own stories. Each is a different battle but in the end, madness is just one common factor..