The Pit And The Pendulum Rhetorical Analysis Essay

The Pit and the Pendulum Rhetorical Analysis Project

Gothic Style is a type of writing that is characterized by elements known as fear, death, gloom, and very high emotion. Edgar Allan Poe demonstrates his use of the American Gothic Style in “The Pit and the Pendulum” by using strong detective fiction, horror and different gothic elements throughout his short story.

Poe is considered the father of American Gothic Literature. He uses several different tools that are categorized for the gothic style category. Poe mainly wanted his readers to focus on the plot and theme of the story, bringing the ambiguity if his characters and places.

In the beginning of the short story “The Pit and the Pendulum” Poe uses different gothic setting elements to write this short story. Poe uses the victim that can’t see anything, he is in a dark and unknown place. “The blackness of the eternal night encompassed me,” (“Poe” 3). This creating the fear of the unknown. The victim then escapes the doom but then falls into the pit.

“I saw clearly the doom which had been prepared for me, and congratulated myself upon timely accident by which I had escaped. Another step before my fall, and the world had seen me no more,” (“Poe”5).

He uses the victim escaping and then when he is free he then falls into the pit, the victim

falling into the pit gives the reader a sense of suspense, Poe then uses distinctive imagery for the audience to get a grasp of his gruesomeness. “..forehead seemed bathed in a clammy vapor.. the peculiar smell of decayed fungus arose to my nostrils.. fallen at the very brink of a circular pit..” (“Poe”5) Poe includes words as in, clammy and decayed to get a detailed representation of what the victim is experiencing, as well as using dark and nervous words to fit into the gothic writing style. When the victim gets a glimpse of light he sees horrific images on the walls. “The figures of fiends in aspects of menace, with skeleton forms, and other more fearful images,” (“Poe” 6). The figures on the wall gives the suspense on where the victim is at. Leading the reader to wonder what he is seeing on the cell walls.
Poe then uses mood to utilize the American Gothic Style. He uses terror, helplessness, confusion, despair and mystery throughout the story. Fear and terror being mostly used throughout the story.
“I longed, yet dared not to employ my vision. I dreaded the first glance at objects around me. It was not that I feared to look upon things horrible, but that I grew aghast lest there should be nothing to see. At length, with a wild desperation at heart, I quickly unclosed my eyes. My worst thoughts, then, were confirmed. The blackness of eternal night encompassed me,” (“Poe” 3).
The victim is not worried about the horrible things on the wall, his only concern is about the fear of eternal darkness, and not being able to see.

Making the audience confused on why he isn’t scared on what is on the walls. The victim becoming so horrified and overwhelmed by all the emotion he is overtaking he then faints. “..fearful idea now suddenly drove the blood in torrents upon my heart, and for a brief period, I once more relapsed,” (“Poe”3). When the victim gets overwhelmed by all the fear he has came upon and then faints it gives the audience a sense of suspense. Poe including this sentence it gives the audience more of an idea on how terrible it is at the

vault.
Poes victim in The Pit and the Pendulum feels immense terror as well as incapable against his torturer. The victim is sentenced to death, “..the motion of the hellish machine ceased.. it drawn up.. some invisible force.. This was a lesson which I took desperately to heart,” (“Poe”10). The victim then realized he can no longer escape, he just has to wait for his death. This is showing the reader the awfulness, which Poe is trying to create.