Answer:
In what ways are their reactions similar? both freaking out and are scared because of the noises. Their reactions are similar because they are both terrified.
When the narrator sees Roderick Usher, he is shocked at the change in his old friend. Never before has he seen a person who looks so much like a corpse with a "cadaverousness of complexion." Death is in the air; the first meeting prepares us for the untimely and ghastly death of Roderick Usher later in the story.