Final answer:
The title 'The Fall of the House of Usher' represents both the physical collapse of the Usher family's residence and the extinction of the Usher family line. This dual meaning is reflected in the mirror images and reflections throughout Edgar Allan Poe's story, symbolizing the overall theme of decay and hopelessness. The correct answer is option: the house splitting in two and the end of the family line.
Step-by-step explanation:
The title 'The Fall of the House of Usher' by Edgar Allan Poe indeed has a dual meaning. It signifies both the literal splitting and destruction of the physical structure of the Usher family's home and the figurative 'fall' or end of the Usher family line.
The story's pervasive theme reflects the hopelessness and darkness of the human condition, symbolized by the physical decay of the house and the psychological deterioration of its inhabitants, especially Roderick Usher. This use of doubling or mirroring, such as the house's reflection in the tarn and the way Roderick mirrors his twin sister's ailments, heightens the sense of inevitable doom.
Roderick Usher's character is a personification of decline—he and the house both appear to waste away, paralleling the demise of his family's legacy. The reflections in the story act as omens, and the eventual collapse of the house mirrors the ultimate death of Roderick, marking the cessation of the Usher bloodline.