The Pit and the Pendulum

“The Pit and the Pendulum” is a short story written during the romanticism time period by Edgar Allan Poe. “The Pit and the Pendulum” is a horror story and it is considered as dark romanticism. This story is about a soldier who is sentenced to death by the Spanish inquisition. Instead of a quick death, however, this soldier is tortured endlessly before he narrowly escapes. This story is extremely suspenseful and scary. The whole concept of this story is terrifying and just imagining how Edgar Allan Poe could create this story amazes me. The first few lines of “The Pit and the Pendulum” kind of sets the tone for the rest of the story. He starts out the story describing how the soldier is feeling and what he is thinking.

“I WAS sick -- sick unto death with that long agony; and when they at length unbound me, and I was permitted to sit, I felt that my senses were leaving me. The sentence -- the dread sentence of death -- was the last of distinct accentuation which reached my ears. After that, the sound of the inquisitorial voices seemed merged in one dreamy indeterminate hum. It conveyed to my soul the idea of revolution -- perhaps from its association in fancy with the burr of a mill wheel. This only for a brief period; for presently I heard no more.” (Poe)

Already we can see that the soldier is losing hope and does not think that he will live. As soon as he hears the death sentence, he gives up.

It kind of seems like he might have been a little messed up. This story had a lot of psychological details in it.

Throughout the whole story, the soldier’s thoughts and feelings are described to us. This passage of the soldiers fear is a good example of the psychological aspects of this story:

“ By long suffering my nerves had been unstrung, until I trembled at the sound of my own voice, and had become in every respect a fitting subject for the species of torture which awaited me.” (Poe)

The soldier has been through a lot already, and is beginning to feel very nervous and jumpy. At this point, he knows that he is not going to die a normal death, and that he is going to be tortured.

This story is a good example of dark romanticism. Many common themes that are included in other dark romanticism writings are included in this story as well. In a text by Abby Werlock about dark romanticism, she describes dark romanticism as commonly including themes such as terror, suspense, and mystery. All of these themes are shown constantly throughout this story. The theme of terror is the one that is most commonly used throughout this story.

“I shrank from the glowing metal to the centre of the cell. Amid the thought of the fiery destruction that impended, the idea of the coolness of the well came over my soul like balm. I rushed to its deadly brink. I threw my straining vision below. The glare from the enkindled roof illumined its inmost recesses. Yet, for a wild moment, did my spirit refuse to comprehend the meaning of what I saw. At length it forced -- it wrestled its way into my soul -- it burned itself in upon my shuddering reason. -- Oh! for a voice to speak! -- oh! horror! -- oh! any horror but this! With a shriek, I rushed from the margin, and buried my face in my hands -- weeping bitterly.” (Poe)

This passage shows terror in it. The soldier is so terrified that he says that he would rather have “any horror but this”. Edgar Allan Poe was very good at writing scary stories and stories that are considered “dark romanticism”.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "gothic." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CASS391&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 23, 2012).

Poe, Edgar Allen. "The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe." The Literature Network: Online Classic Literature, Poems, and Quotes. Essays & Summaries. Web. 23 Jan. 2012. .