As detailed in the story, the Usher family has an almost flawless dignified direct line. Roderick Usher has only one living relative, his twin sister Madeline Usher. This would mean that the Usher family is in danger of disappearing because neither Roderick nor his sister have children of their own. In view of this, there is a probability of incest between Roderick and Madeline. Roderick and Madeline both suffer from rather bizarre illnesses which could perhaps be the consequence of mixed marriages in the family. Roderick suffers from “a morbid acuteness of the senses”; while Madeline's illness is described as "...a constant apathy, a progressive deterioration of the person and frequent although transitory affections of a partly cataleptic nature..." which cause her to lose consciousness. His body would represent a state of being similar to death. Nonetheless, Roderick believes that the mansion somehow controls his actions, as well as what ultimately becomes of him. “…For many years, he had never ventured into the open, regarding an influence whose supposed strength was expressed in terms too dark to be here