Edgar+Allan+Poe

By: Edgar Allan Poe
Summary: The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allen Poe is a short story about a man trapped in a prison in Toledo during the inquisition. When the story first starts he is laying in a prison cell with his eyes closed remembering his trial and how he got there in the first place. Then, when he finally gets the courage to open his eyes, he finds himself in a completely dark and damp dungeon. Upon investigating his cell, the man discovers the size of it. While falling in and out of consciousness the man also discovers that there is a large pit in the center of his cell. Throughout this short story the man escapes death by a pit, swinging steel blade (the pendulum), and being squished or forced into the pit by walls that were moving ever closer together and producing a burning heat. At the end of the story the man is rescued by the French army as they invade Toledo

Excerpts: “It was not that I feared to look upon things horrible, but that I grew aghast lest there should be nothing to see.” This line is from the beginning of the story before the man opened his eyes. He could feel around him the dampness and hardness of his surroundings, but was afraid not of what he would see, but of what he wouldn’t see. When he finally did open his eyes he found in a way what he had expected, total and complete udder darkness. “…my forehead seemed bathed in a clammy vapor, and the peculiar smell of decayed fungus arose to my nostrils.” I chose this line because for one it describes more of what the prison cell was like, but also because it was the moment that he discovered the pit in the middle of his cell. This man was saved from falling to his death into the pit by a mere accident of tripping on his prison garb. He fell and landed just inches from the pit which he found to contain water on the bottom when he threw some loose rock from the wall into it. “In other conditions of mind I might have had the courage to end my misery at once by a plunge into one of these abysses; but now I was the veriest of cowards.” This excerpt is after the man discovered the pit and was making his mind up to go back and just stay forever next to the safety of the wall. At this point the man thought there was more than one pit in his dungeon cell and he described himself as a coward for wanting to go and stay by the wall. I would have been scared just like this man ad chose to live and be at least somewhat safe, then fall into a pit like the one described in the story. “…crescent of glittering steel, about a foot in length from horn to horn; the horns upward, and the under edge evidently as keen as that of a razor. This line was chosen because it was a very descriptive account of the pendulum the man found swinging when he awoke. Upon regaining consciousness the man discovered himself tied to wooden framework, his heart directly under the path of the bladed pendulum. The way the pendulum is described is very detailed and when read with the rest of the story made me feel as if I was the one tied under it. I could feel the man’s fear of knowing his death was coming closer inch by inch with each swing of the pendulum. “…death would have been a relief,” This line is a thought by the man as he was lying on the wooden framework with the swinging pendulum coming closer and closer to his body. The man was able to see that the pendulum’s edge would first cut his clothing and then with each swing get nearer to his skin and heart. The man would rather die than have to continue to lay there knowing what his fate would be.

Reflection: I found this story to be just like other stories I have read by Edgar Allen Poe in classes. It contained a dark mood to it which was only further enhanced by the descriptions of the setting and events. Other works I have read by Poe had a similar mood to them. I have also found that Poe has a certain writing style which can be seen from piece of literature to piece of literature. I didn’t like this piece at first because it was a little slow and didn’t make sense, but the more I read the more I understood and realized what was going on in the story. The descriptive language also helped and made me, at times, feel like I was with the man down in his dungeon cell experiencing the near death events too. I am not sure that I would have picked this piece let alone any other piece of literature by Poe if I didn’t have to, but I am glad that I read this piece because it wasn’t life changing, but it did give me insight into the way some people are treated in prison cells in say other countries or back in past history.