The Pit and the Pendulum

“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

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This project is based on the short story “The Pit and the Pendulum” by Edgar Allan Poe. The story describes a prisoner being tied up on the floor with a pendulum shaped like a crescent razor descending towards him. In this story the author describes that the pendulum’s ‘sweep was brief and of course slow’, but then as the pendulum descended downwards, ‘the sweep...had increased by nearly a yard...its velocity also was much greater’, until it covered a ‘terrifically wide sweep

“…All sensations appeared swallowed up in a mad rushing of the soul into Hades. Then silence, and stillness, night were the universe.” This quote from “The Pit and the Pendulum” is an excellent example of how Edgar Allen Poe is a master at using point of view, setting, and conflict to display the thematic message of fear in his short stories. This example uses all three literary strategies. The setting contributes to the theme of fear by stating that the soul was descending to Hades, the Greek god

Here?” A stranger appears at the house of a family and asks if he can explore his previous home. The family lets the man in but they eventually kick him out due to his peculiar actions which affects the house and everyone in it negatively. “The pit and Pendulum,” by edgar allan poe is about a man that tries to avoid death through different obstacles. Both of the stories create suspense and fear and a big factor of that is because of people’s natural fear of the unknown and the great deal of descriptions

Symbolism's of Hell in “The Pit and the Pendulum” In the short story, Poe uses the pit to symbolize hell. In the beginning, the soldier describes going into the pit as “a mad rushing descent as of the soul into Hades” (Poe 268). The descent reminds the reader of hell in that it is beneath the surface of the ground. Also, when the soldier describes the mad rushing, it can represent hell because nothing in hell is supposed to be orderly or calm. In the Bible, hell is described as a chaotic

displays a supernatural experience between a man and a talking raven that flew into his house in the middle of the night. Another one of Poe’s popular piece of work, “The Pit and the Pendulum,” tells the story of a man who has just been placed in a prison designed for torture. In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” and “Pit and the Pendulum,” Poe creates suspense for the reader through the use of an unreliable narrator, his perplexing tone, and his use of gothic imagery. Poe clearly demonstrates suspense in

Different elements can bring out true horror in a story. Gothic elements ring throughout the horror story of “The Pit and the Pendulum” by Edgar Allen Poe. Elements such as eerie settings, mental torment, and violent events are vivid throughout the story. The first Gothic element in “The Pit and the Pendulum” is an eerie setting. This is being seen when the speaker says that the “white slender angels” would save him (Poe). The speaker imagined the seven candles turned into the angels. He saw the

10 Romantic Reading/ “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Masque of the Red Death” October 16, 2014 On my honor as a Brentwood Academy student, I have neither given nor received help on this assignment. I pledge that the work and ideas in this paper, unless otherwise cited, are mine alone. X_______________________________________________________ Purpose Statement: To write a 900 word analytical essay over Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories, “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Masque of the Red

for the narrator, who is the main character, in “The Pit and The Pendulum.” However, this situation helps to create an idea of independence and freedom for the reader. These are both very important to our lives on a daily basis. Freedom is something that many people around the world don’t have, but taken for granted in many countries today. Independence is seemingly simple, but can still be a challenge in our lives. In “The Pit and The Pendulum” the author Edgar Allan Poe uses the narrator’s fear

“The pit and the pendulum’” by Edgar Allan Poe was a good short story for many reasons one being that the character ever gave up no matter the circumstances. He went through so many punishments and the tortures he went through just to avoid the pendulum thanks to the rats chewing away the rope with some meat he put on the rope. This story was really interesting for me it was honestly one of the stories I liked from my english 3 experience. Not going to lie this story really caught my attention even