Literary Elements

Short stories came into the literature world as brief, single sitting stories, yet containing an exclusively developed subject. A short story is packed with descriptive details that form together to grab the reader’s attention in a short amount of time. The authors indulge in rich details to create the narrative into a jaw dropping meaning story from the beginning to the ending. The author begins with constructing the story with the building blocks of literary devices. Short story authors apply the literary techniques of symbolism, irony and theme to create a meaningful connection with the reader. Authors exploit symbolism into the works of literature to create strong connections between ideas, actions or persons that intertwine to represent a greater similarity throughout the story. Edgar Allan Poe’s terrorizing narrative, “The Pit and the Pendulum” included numerous kinds of symbolism yet the one that stood out by far was regarding the fear of the unknown world of darkness. The man has been “…left to perish of starvation in [the] world of darkness…” (Poe 8) symbolizes the thought of darkness being the terror of the man when death is seeking him in the prison. “(I)ts outward or upward whirls” (14) of the bladed pendulum symbolized a clock’s pendulum represents time, meaning was death getting closer as it swayed back and forth. In “The Monkey’s Paw”, W. W. Jacobs goes in depth of bringing in symbolism through actions that one as a human can make because they want certain possessions that maybe they don’t necessarily need. The holy man that had placed the mortifying spell on the devious monkey paw that gave three wishes “…wanted to show that fate ruled people’s lives…” (Jacobs 34) but it didn’t give out those wishes without getting something in return. When the father had wished two hundred pounds, they were warned that they would have to “…in consideration for your son’s services they wish to present you with a certain sum as compensation.” (39) Now in Poe’s