Poe wrote many short stories throughout his life, though few were actually acknowledged during his lifetime. In general, they contained a dark theme filled with the emotions of the narrator. His "The Pit and the Pendulum" tells a story of a man being sentenced to death by the Inquisition. He starts he story by describing the judges condemning the narrator to death, saying they have lips "whiter than the sheet I trace these words upon." Weaved into these descriptions are the narrators feelings, strong, mostly fearful emotions that create a dark scene. Such emotions embody the spirit of Romanticism by creating a powerful vision within the reader's mind. Following his sentence, the narrator is thrown into a pit where the word "light" doesn't exist. After measuring the "circuit" of the enclosure incorrectly due to a fall, the narrator once again slips on the "slimy" ground and nearly falls into a well in the center of the room. After the attempt to kill him by having him fall into the well fails, the officers of the Inquisition knock him out and tie him on a wooden board. When he wakes up, he sees what seems to be a bladed pendulum swinging back and forth above him, moving ever so slowly closer to his chest. Now trapped in what seems to be an inevitable death trap, the narrator begins to despair, causing an even more vivid image of his situation in the reader. As the pendulum nears, large rats begin to crawl onto him and bite through his bindings. When the narrator notes that the pendulum will soon slice his chest open, it creates an extremely vivid picture for the reader, full of emotion and suspense. Luckily, he manages to escape just as the blade cuts through his shirt. Unfortunately, as he notes, he was "Free! -- and in the grasp of the Inquisition!" As the blade is removed from the chamber, he notices that the iron walls are beginning to heat up, turning red hot. Then, the walls close in on him, seemingly sealing his fate and creating an image of despair in the reader. However, in the last paragraph, Poe reverses the story and the narrator is saved when the invading French army saves him literally as he is falling into the well.
http://poestories.com/read/pit
Aidan Turek
ReplyDeleteI have never chanced to read Poe until now, and I certainly agree with general opinion- I don't believe 'morose' could better fit another poet! But in all seriousness, Poe does seem to characterize some gritty picture of the dark, industrial world, while, as you say, at the same time creating an uplifting 'freedom'. This is, I suppose, rather the purpose of the Romantic movement, as an escape from the nasty world they saw before them. Very touching, this poem.