“The Pit and the Pendulum”
“The Pit and the Pendulum,” the story of life and death. The narrator is sentenced to death during the inquisition, waiting for his execution he is trapped in a dark dungeon. The narrator believes he is going to die in this dungeon which is unusual because executions are usually public. In this dungeon is a small pit in the center and a pendulum swinging from the ceiling slowly descending to kill the narrator. The pendulum retracted into the ceiling and the narrator thought he was going to live, but the walls of the dungeon started to heat up and close in on the narrator pushing him into the pit. In “The Pit and the Pendulum,” Edgar Allan Poe develops the theme of the passage of time and the uncertainty of life and …show more content…
“Death, I said, “any death but that of the pit!” Fool! Might I have not known that into the pit was the object of the burning iron to urge me? Could I resist its glow? Or, if even that, could I withstand its pressure and now, flatter and flatter grew the lozenge with a rapidity that left me no time for contemplation.” The pit and the dungeon are forms of symbolism. The pit symbolises death and the uncertainty of it while the dungeon symbolises life and the uncertainty of it. The walls of the dungeon are pushing the narrator towards the center of the dungeon into the pit. The narrator does not know what is in the pit. The narrator asks himself if I would have known the walls were pushing me in this direction, could I have avoided it? We ask ourselves that same question whenever something bad has happened to us, If I would have known what was going to happen could I avoid it? The thing is we do not know. The pendulum is the next form of symbolism. “The vibration of the pendulum was right at the angles of my length. I saw that the crescent was designed to cross the region of my heart.” The pendulum is a symbol of the passing time. Pendulums are usually found on old clocks and as time passes the pendulum swings back and forth. As the pendulum swing it descends and eventually it will the narrator’s heart. By using the symbol the author is saying that we know death is coming, but we do not know when it will …show more content…
“Shaking in every limb, I groped my way back to the wall; resolving there to perish rather than ris the terrors of the wells of which my imagination now pictured many in various positions about the dungeon.” The narrator is scared of what may be in the dungeon, since he cannot see anything. He does not know what is in this dungeon, so all he can do is imagine what is in here and how he is going to be executed. This relates back to my theme of the uncertainty of life and death, because the narrator does not know how he is going to die, but the narrator is doing whatever he can to avoid it. “Down-steadily down it crept. I took a frenzied pleasure in contrasting its downward with its lateral velocity. To the right-to the left-far and wide - with the shriek if a damned spirit; to my heart with the stealthy pace of the tiger!” By using description the author creates suspense of the narrator’s death. This keeps you wondering when the narrator is going to die, or even if he is going to die. The narrator does not even know when he is going to die. The suspense of the story shows the uncertainty of death throughout life.
Edgar Allan Poe develops the theme of the uncertainty of life and death and the passage of time through symbolism and suspense. Using the pit as a symbol of the uncertainty death and the dungeon as the uncertainty of life, the author is trying to say that death is uncertain and we cannot avoid it. By using
“The Pit and the Pendulum,” the story of life and death. The narrator is sentenced to death during the inquisition, waiting for his execution he is trapped in a dark dungeon. The narrator believes he is going to die in this dungeon which is unusual because executions are usually public. In this dungeon is a small pit in the center and a pendulum swinging from the ceiling slowly descending to kill the narrator. The pendulum retracted into the ceiling and the narrator thought he was going to live, but the walls of the dungeon started to heat up and close in on the narrator pushing him into the pit. In “The Pit and the Pendulum,” Edgar Allan Poe develops the theme of the passage of time and the uncertainty of life and …show more content…
“Death, I said, “any death but that of the pit!” Fool! Might I have not known that into the pit was the object of the burning iron to urge me? Could I resist its glow? Or, if even that, could I withstand its pressure and now, flatter and flatter grew the lozenge with a rapidity that left me no time for contemplation.” The pit and the dungeon are forms of symbolism. The pit symbolises death and the uncertainty of it while the dungeon symbolises life and the uncertainty of it. The walls of the dungeon are pushing the narrator towards the center of the dungeon into the pit. The narrator does not know what is in the pit. The narrator asks himself if I would have known the walls were pushing me in this direction, could I have avoided it? We ask ourselves that same question whenever something bad has happened to us, If I would have known what was going to happen could I avoid it? The thing is we do not know. The pendulum is the next form of symbolism. “The vibration of the pendulum was right at the angles of my length. I saw that the crescent was designed to cross the region of my heart.” The pendulum is a symbol of the passing time. Pendulums are usually found on old clocks and as time passes the pendulum swings back and forth. As the pendulum swing it descends and eventually it will the narrator’s heart. By using the symbol the author is saying that we know death is coming, but we do not know when it will …show more content…
“Shaking in every limb, I groped my way back to the wall; resolving there to perish rather than ris the terrors of the wells of which my imagination now pictured many in various positions about the dungeon.” The narrator is scared of what may be in the dungeon, since he cannot see anything. He does not know what is in this dungeon, so all he can do is imagine what is in here and how he is going to be executed. This relates back to my theme of the uncertainty of life and death, because the narrator does not know how he is going to die, but the narrator is doing whatever he can to avoid it. “Down-steadily down it crept. I took a frenzied pleasure in contrasting its downward with its lateral velocity. To the right-to the left-far and wide - with the shriek if a damned spirit; to my heart with the stealthy pace of the tiger!” By using description the author creates suspense of the narrator’s death. This keeps you wondering when the narrator is going to die, or even if he is going to die. The narrator does not even know when he is going to die. The suspense of the story shows the uncertainty of death throughout life.
Edgar Allan Poe develops the theme of the uncertainty of life and death and the passage of time through symbolism and suspense. Using the pit as a symbol of the uncertainty death and the dungeon as the uncertainty of life, the author is trying to say that death is uncertain and we cannot avoid it. By using