In the story, Roderick tells the narrator that his illness may partly stem from Madeline's illness, which worries the most famous doctors. Such conversation shows that the relationship between Roderick and Madeline is closer than intimacy, and considering the fact that Roderick needs her to reproduce and survive, the relationship between him and Madeline can refer to the relationship between people in a decadent society and their hope. and future. In a normal society, people strive to protect and expand their hope for the future. However, in a decadent period, people gradually lost it due to indulgence in physical and spiritual pleasures without reproducing much. The loss of hope and the future in turn hurts people themselves and pushes them further into the abyss of destruction. In the story, such complication is shown in depth about Roderick and his sister. Roderick wished to preserve the decomposition of Madeline's body when he madly becomes convinced that she is already dead and buried her alive, which hastened her destruction. Later in the story, when Madeline returns from the grave and dies. Because of the bond between Roderick and Madeline, Roderick's life is also taken away. This relationship is a great metaphor for people and their hope in a decadent society: when people give up hope, their hope dies; when hope dies, people have no more