"The Pit and the Pendulum"

Paper Summary:

In his story, "The Pit and the Pendulum," Edgar Allen Poe uses fictionalized events of the Spanish Inquisition to explore feelings about death and the afterlife. The paper shows that for each torture the narrator is exposed to, he has a different reaction, and each situation demonstrates one view of death and the afterlife.

From the Paper:

"Finally, he notices that the walls of his cell are moving, gradually shifting from a square to a diamond shape, and that eventually the walls will nearly touch, and force him into the pit. This time there seems to be nothing he can do to save himself, and just as he is about to plummet into the pit, he is saved by a French general who is part of an invading force. This reminds one of the Christian belief that a savior can snatch us away from the demons of Hell. To drive the point home, the metal walls of the cell have become hot, and the demons figured on them become visually more and more menacing."

More papers on "The Pit and the Pendulum":

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• Analytical Essay # 124237 : "Psychological Realism in Literature"

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