Poe's Stories brief biography of edgar allan poe
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Short Story By Flannery OConnor
| The fact that the narrator’s state is so ambiguous, even to himself, makes clear how disorienting the process of judgment is and how profoundly the authority is controlling his sensations. He doesn’t even know if he is dead. This description, of the dark and cold, merges with the rumors of the dungeons that he has heard, and creates a setting that is both nightmare and reality. Stretching out his hands in the dark, the prisoner finds a wall. He attempts to find out the dimensions of his cell by tearing a scrap from the robe that has somehow replaced his own clothes and putting the scrap on the ground so that by following the wall, he will find the scrap again and know the cell’s perimeter. But on his way, he slips and falls into another strange slumber. Poe gives his narrator qualities of wit and ingenuity, by showing his determination to carefully measure out the dimensions of the cell, but these qualities come to nothing when compared to the power the unknown foe has over him. When the narrator of "Pit and Pendulum" wakes, a pitcher of water and some bread has been placed beside him. He is so hungry and thirsty that he devours the offering without questioning its source. Then, he resumes the tour of the prison wall, and overall, adding together the steps before his faint and after, he makes the perimeter 100 paces. He finds it impossible to guess the exact area of the cell however, because the walls are jutting and irregular. He now aims to find his way across the cell. He inches his way across the floor but soon trips on the scrap of fabric and falls. The idea of the narrator’s enemy is stirred again. The fact that the narrator can’t see or know what kind of creature is tormenting him makes the situation even creepier (to him and to the reader. In the darkness, all actions are anonymous and the cell’s owner can do anything without the narrator’s knowledge. The irregularity of the dungeon also exaggerates the idea of the unknown. As the narrator of "Pit and Pendulum" lands and comes to, he realizes that he is in an extremely precarious position – he is inches away from the edge of some kind of chasm. He loosens a small chunk from the edge and lets it drop and, hearing its descent for several second, knows that the death that had been planned for him was a gruesome one. He has heard about this kind of torture from the rumors of the Inquisition dungeons He makes his way back to the wall, now imagining numerous other pits dotted across the prison floor. This pit is a symbol of the deep unknown realm that the Inquisition has created. The rumors of the Inquisition’s torture methods are reigning over its prisoners. It's not even clear whether this room is a cell, or that the pit has an end – it could well be bottomless. In this place, there seem to be no rules. Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com ©2017 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 44 Eventually the narrator of "Pit and Pendulum" sleeps and when he wakes, another pitcher and loaf has been left. He drinks and thinks the water must have been drugged because he falls into a deathlike sleep. When he wakes yet again, the cell is visible from alight coming from somewhere. He can now seethe full size of the cell. It is much smaller than he imagined from his pacing. He realizes he must have counted the room twice over, going back the way he’d come after his fainting spell. The cell is also not so irregular ashed imagined. The alcoves and juttings that he’d felt must have been enlarged by his sensory deprivation. The walls are hideously decorated with menacing figures. The transformation of the light in the cell implies a presence outside and some kind of vent or entrance, or at least some kind of source – Download 0.58 Mb. Share with your friends:
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