The Fall of the House of Usher, YOU ARE SO SMALL Brick

original movie prop

Young Madeline Ushers (Willa Fitzgeralds) YOU ARE SO SMALL quote appears in one of the most pivotal scenes in The Fall of the House of Usher, and its meaning holds immense significance in the shows overarching storyline. 

Mike Flanagans The Fall of the House of Usher primarily goes back and forth between two timelines, where one portrays all the decisions that helped Madeline and Roderick go from rags to riches. Meanwhile, the other walks through the present-day consequences of their past actions.

In The Fall of the House of Ushers past timeline, Madeline and Roderick make one significant decision on the 1979 New Years Eve that not only allows them to gain unlimited riches but also ultimately seals the Usher familys fate.

To remind him that his life and position of power amounted to nothing but a slow, painful death, Madeline places a brick with the You are so small quote.  The brick serves as a final nail in Griswolds coffin, prodding him in his final moments that his lust for power and influence ultimately made him morally bankrupt and led to his tragic death.

This eventually becomes a cycle in the Mike Flanagan Netflix show when Madeline, too, recalls how Annabel had called her small and wonders if her wealth and power were worth the cost. As The Fall of the House of Usher reaches its ending arc, it becomes evident that Madelin and Roderick have also become so morally decayed and small that nothing can redeem them.

COA co-signed by PropStore and Mike Flanagan (from charity auction).