Compare And Contrast The Pit And The Pendulum

In “The Pit and the Pendulum”, the atmosphere is dark and unsettling. In addition to the setting and characters, there are various other factors that give the story a creepy feel to it. Furthermore, the narrator’s thoughts and descriptions add to the ominous mood of the story. For example, the tale states, “By long suffering my nerves had been unstrung, until I trembled at the sound of my own voice, and had become in every respect a fitting subject for the species of torture which awaited me” (Poe 5). At this point in the story, the narrator, falling into his torturers’ trap, tips on the verge of insanity and begins to lose hope. The reader can easily picture the narrator, cowering against the wall, eyes wide, flinching at the slightest of sounds. Therefore, along with the horrifying aspects of the torture chamber, the unstable narrator and his thoughts create a foreboding and macabre feeling characteristic to gothic

There are three types of irony. “Death by Scrabble” is an ironic story by Charlie Fish. The characters in this story are not named, but readers get to know the 42 years old man and his wife. Within the story, you learn that the couple is uneasy in their relationship. The story “Death by Scrabble” shows verbal, situational, and dramatic irony.

The two main themes that can be taken away from The Pit and the Pendulum are hope and perseverance. The main character is put in some extremely tough situations throughout the story but his inner fortitude combined with perseverance leads to his survival. He let rats eat away at his skin and is perfectly still the entire time so that the rats would eat the straps holding him down. While going through this process the man says “Yet one minute, and I felt that the struggle would be over”(8). This man is getting eating alive by large rats and yet he thinks about how in one minute it will be over. Most people would be losing their minds if they were in his shoes but he remained calm and preserved through the situation. His ability to conquer both physical and mental pain keeps him alive through the torture. Another major theme in the story is hope and the man’s ability to see threw all the darkness and see light when no one else can. He says, “In the deepest slumber -- no! In delirium -- no! In a swoon -- no! In death -- no! Even in the grave all is not lost”(1). This man is sentenced to die in the pit. He knows this and still has hope even though there appears to be no way out. He knows that torture and hardships await him but his refusal to give up hope saves him. The way the man was able to keep a positive mindset through the various challenges he faced in the pit is the reason

The first unique element of Edgar Allan Poe’s style is his imagery, which has the effect of

Edgar Allan Poe and Washington Irving are both enthralling writers. They both have unusual styles of writing but they are similar in some ways. The writers are comparable in the use of tone in their works. Irving‘s use of tone in his stories are typically optimistic, yet dramatic. Poe’s uses of tone in his stories are filled with horror and are also dramatic. Poe and Irving use different techniques to develop a complex meaning in their short stories. For instance, elements such as imagery, tone, and irony are placed in these stories contribute to make these stories intense.

The theme in “The Pit and the Pendulum” is death and hope. This is displayed in the poem when the narrator realizes the razor sharp pendulum that has been over him swaying from side to side is not an image, and is getting ready to kill him at any second. In the “Pit and the Pendulum” on page 276 it states, “It was the painted figure of Time as he is commonly represented, save that, in lieu of a scythe, he held what, at a casual glance, I supposed to be the pictured image of a huge pendulum, such as we see on antique clocks.” This means the whole time the narrator was in the dungeon he thought the pendulum was nothing but an image of time. When the rats bite through his restraints, he has a feeling of hope that he will escape and not die He feels the same thing

Taking into account the previous descriptions and the definitions of horror and terror we will try to identify which of these stories presents horror and which one may be said to go deeper by portraying terror. The Pit and the pendulum is characterized by having a narrator who seems in absolute use of his mental faculties. As it is mentioned above, this character is aware of what is happening around him and by having a peak of his logical thoughts and feelings the reader experiences the struggle of the narrator to stay alive in a much more personal way. The fact that this character is sane, integrated and coherent in his thinking is one of the reasons why the reader may sense the terror of the story on a whole other level.

Edgar Allen Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum uses horror and suspicion to build up not only the storyline, but the persona of the narrator in which is also the prisoner. The characteristics of the prisoner ties within the story to create trippy feelings of fear and unassertiveness of whether or not he is truly safe. From the trials that the prisoner has faced, his characteristic of resourcefulness, pessimistic, and terror are revealed and play a salient part of his slick escape.

The Spanish Inquisition was a holy and violent endeavor that was meant to convert non-Christians into Christians, but when some kind of rebellion or outburst took place, the rebel was meant with force and punished harshly. “The Pit and the Pendulum” by Edgar Allan Poe is undoubtedly a piece of gothic literature taking place during the Spanish Inquisition following the imprisonment of the narrator. Edgar Allan Poe has written many pieces about death and despair throughout his impressive career. “The Pit and the Pendulum” indeed no exception to this literary trend. This specific story takes place during the spanish inquisition and focuses on the narrator who is imprisoned and tortured in a mysterious room. “The Pit and the Pendulum” has many elements of gothic literature such as the setting and point of view, the aspect of fear within the novel, and the horrid presence of death throughout the story.

One literary device Poe uses to shape his writing style is imagery. An example of imagery is in the poem “Alone,” he writes, “From the torrent of the fountain-/From the red cliff of the mountain-/” (13-14). This demonstrates his ability to describe something and make something that most people would see as peaceful or regular to seem

Edgar Allan Poe was one of the greatest writers of the nineteenth century. Perhaps he is best know for is ominous short stories. Two of these stories were "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Raven." In these short stories Poe uses imagery in many different forms to enhance the mood and setting of the story. In my essay I will approach three aspects of Poe's use of imagery. These three are when Poe uses it to develop the setting, to develop the mood, and to develop suspense. Through out all of Poe's stories he uses imagery to develop the setting. If the setting is established well, you can understand the story better. Some examples of when Poe used imagery to develop the

Poe uses irony to show how isolating yourself from evil isn’t going to keep you from death; death is unavoidable. Symbolism is used to show that if you fear something, you can create and uncontrollable obsession leading you to make regretful mistakes. He uses imagery to show the darkness and evil of the pit and the pendulum and how fear saved him. Fear can keep you careful and cautious, helping you to survive. On the other hand, fear can keep you from enjoying the life you have.

How would you react to being shown demonic symbols and images (Rhetorical Question)? In “The Pit and the Pendulum” by Edgar Allen Poe, setting can symbolize either good or bad. Being in a dark room as you wake might not be so good. The reaper is a symbol for death, and as the character sees this, he fears for his life. Not only were there demonic paintings and a reaper, there was also a pit in the middle. Overall this is a bad place to be, and represents a hell-like chamber for torture. The character talks about the pit like he’s heard about it before, and makes it clear that the pit is worse than any other death, “Death”, I said, “Any death but that of the pit!” (Poe 574). The character had also described the confusion of the pendulum at

The Pit and The Pendulum, a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe, tells the dreary story of a man who is being held in a torturous prison by the Spanish Inquisition for going against their beliefs. This story explains the harsh realities and torments faced by prisoners of the Inquisition. Tension rises throughout the story, but is resolved in the end when an officer from the French Army frees the narrator from his “death chamber,” while simultaneously ending the Peninsular War. Edgar Allan Poe employs intense conflict, vivid imagery, and first person point of view to heighten the reader’s sense of dread in his suspenseful story, “The Pit and The Pendulum.” Conflict in “The Pit and The Pendulum” is utilized fiercely throughout the story by

In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum,” there were setting and some symbols. The theme would be that it is impossible to stop time and as the final outcome of life would be death. To support this in the story, there are two main symbols throughout which are the pit which symbolizes hell or death, and the pendulum is another symbol that represent time. The setting sets up the story line because depending where the story is set, the characters act a certain way. Like this story is set up in an cell and the character always feels like he is gonna die from anything that appears.