Why “April 2005: Usher II” Is Good Writing

“April 2005: Usher II,” (1950) by Ray Bradbury, is a short story that I was introduced to in my first American Literature class. What is interesting about this piece is that it works equally well as a short story (what it was orginally published as), and as a book chapter in Bradbury’s novel, The Martian Chronicles. It is a work filled with dark humor and irony as well as a great deal of allusion to the work of another master American writer, Edgar Allan Poe. However, to me, this short story is more than just science fiction or a parody of Poe’s short stories; it is a excellent example of Ray Bradbury’s writing mastery.

The story centers around a man named Stendahl, who has comissioned an replica of the House of Usher (from Poe’s short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher”) to be built, and then filled with all manner of things and characters out of books and movies. In the futuristic world that Stendahl lives in, all such fantasy things were banned in 1975, because the government wanted people to face reality instead of escaping into a book. Throughout the house, there are many allusions to other stories of Poes, such as “The Cask of Amontillado,” “The Tell-tale Heart,” “The Pit and The Pendulum,” and several others. As a reader familiar with Poe, it was entertaining to read this story by Bradbury and find all of these allusions.

Part of what I enjoy the most about reading Bradbury is the humor and irony that he employs. One of my favorite lines of dialogue from “April 2005: Usher II” is spoken by the character Stendahl, as he is chaining another character to a wall. When the other character, a man named Garrett who was sent to the house to inspect it, asks what in the world Stendahl thinks he’s doing, Stendahl replies, “I’m being ironic. Don’t interrupt a man in the midst of being ironic, it’s not polite!” (146). This line is an excellent bit of characterization as well as humor. For Stendahl to use a literary term like ironic and act as though it is highly important to what is going on shows how much he cares about the world of books and stories—he is so engrossed in this world that he recognizes things in himself the same way he’d recognize them in a book character.

Finally, Bradbury employs an amazing sense of description—always showing, not telling, the reader what is happening. As in the examples on page 140 and 141, he uses precise wording and an almost dramatic sense of detail to construct the scene in the reader’s mind. When the party guests arrive, we know not only what they look like or such superficial things, but we know what kind of people they are—“Spoil-funs... people with mercurochrome for blood and iodine colored eyes” (141). More than just telling the reader that Stendahl is opposed to these people, Bradbury skillfully explains how they are against everything that Stendahl loves. This kind of writing skill is what makes “April 2005:Usher II” as engrossing and compelling as it is.

Work Cited

Bradbury, Ray. "April 2005: Usher II." The Martian Chronicles. Doubleday and Company: Garden City, NY, 1958. 132-48.