Analysis Of The Pit And The Pendulum

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Recommended: Gothic Fiction from Edger Allan Poe

The Pit and the Pendulum

Everyone is scared of something, whether it be heights, clowns, or fear itself. Some people loathe being scared, while others relish the experience. Those who enjoy horror tend to seek it out through many sources, including movies and books. There exists a certain kind of book that is designed to strike fear into its readers, to keep them up at night. These books are known as horror stories. Many great writers in history have found their muse in the horror genre, one of them being Edgar Allan Poe. In his short life, Poe wrote many poems and short stories which are recognized as being some of the greatest horror stories of all time. For example, “The Raven,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Pit and the Pendulum” …show more content…

One prospect to consider is, once again, the pendulum. Although it is debatable whether or not this medieval torture device is entirely supernatural, it definitely has a mysterious aura to it. For example, the reader never discovers whether it is manually operated, or swings by itself, and also if anyone is supervising the entire experience. It is also unclear if the narrator would have actually been killed, or if the pendulum would have perhaps stopped right before cutting him. The last instance in which there are strange circumstances in this book would be the pit. This unusual feature was probably the most bizarre part of the whole story, as there are many aspects of it which are never explained. One instance of this would be its entire purpose. There could be many reasons it is there, like for the narrator to accidentally fall into, or to relieve him of his misery, or merely just to torture him. The pit is possibly the only supernatural part of the whole story, because at the very end, the walls suddenly start to push the narrator inwards, towards the pit. Although it could have been caused by machines, it is very unlikely considering the technology that was available at the time. The moving of the walls creates a dangerous effect, and the reader begins to lose all hope of the survival of the narrator. But then he is saved at the last second, and the reader is relieved. It is in all of these ways that “The Pit and the Pendulum” by Edgar Allan Poe is a true horror

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