In “Sonnet To be successful, a person must have, as Richard Wilbur describes, both rational and non-rational abilities. Each work depicts a man distraught due to the detachment between the rational and non-rational components of his mind. himself in complete isolation from society and intense suffering. The narrator is obsessed with the non-rational manifestation and cannot get rid of it, struggling in vain to understand it better. Ultimately, in both "Sonnet X" and "Usher", the narrator's misunderstanding of his non-rational side leads to the destruction of this part of his mind. The narrator continues to live, but not as a whole person. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't". “Isn’t it forbidden”? Get the original essay “Sonnet X” shares many similarities with Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” As in “Sonnet X,” Poe delves into the human mind to study its rational and non-rational components. In both stories, the narrator projects a character that is a figment of his imagination in order to represent his non-rational side. In both works, this projection occurs during the rational character's midlife crisis, thus suggesting that the awareness of the passage of time affects the characters in such a way that they begin to neglect their non-rational identities. Because they are unable to correctly interpret their non-rational counterparts, both rational characters reject them, causing this part of their identity to die. “Sonnet X” is told through the perspective of a narrator observing the life of a recluse. The narrator describes a man completely isolated in his own world, cut off from society in an "upper room." This man's life is miserable and desolate; he is trapped inside, “in a dark house.” The narrator observes the man's seclusion and explains that his life was strewn with trials: "Terror and anguish were his lot of drink." The isolated man intrigues the narrator, who sympathizes with the loner and thinks of him often; he quickly becomes enamored with the idea of ​​him and says, "I can't get rid of this thought or keep it close." " It is implied that the narrator is not directly familiar with the man, does not know much about him, and can only "vaguely dream of this man alone", implying that the two men have little or no relationship and that the narrator observes from a distance. The narrator dreams of the man in an attempt to understand him, but still cannot understand the miserable life the man leads; indeed, the mere thought of it frightens him. Symbolically, the withdrawn man is a projection of the narrator's life. the mind. The two characters are components of the same person, one representing the rational part and the other the non-rational part. The narrator, by observing and trying to understand the man, represents the rational man he is looking at, who is detached. coming from society and living alone in a world characterized by suffering, represents the non-rational. The narrator, by focusing on this man, tries to understand the non-rational aspect of himself. Until now, he has neglected this aspect of himself. his being throughout his life, as the lines further suggest: “His steps reached the edge of manhood; Terror and anguish were his drinking lot. At this point in his life, the narrator rediscovers the non-rational part of himself, but fails to understand it and is confused and upset by the.