The Pit And The Pendulum Literary Analysis
The Spanish Inquisition was a bleak time where people were accused of being unfaithful to the Christian faith and death was not merely the loss of life but an endless endeavor toward insanity through torture. Edgar Allan Poe uses this instance and condition in "The Pit and the Pendulum." Throughout the story the question of the narrator's reliability is brought up through his references to madness, his suicide attempts, and his references to his own death. Through the story, the reader sees many events showing the narrator's reference to madness. While the narrator is watching the black-robed judges, he sees them appear before him, "They appeared to me white whiter than the sheet upon which I trace these words and thin even to grotesqueness,"
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(290). This is his vision of death in the form of his judges appearing before him as if they are going to end his trivial existence. After his encounter with heinous judges he sees hope that falls into oblivion, " the tall candles sank into nothingness! Their flames went out utterly; the blackness of darkness supervened; all sensations appeared swallowed up in a mad rushing decent, as of the soul into Hades," (290). His hope is gone and now he expresses his vision of an incubus of darkness as if his soul where being swallowed which is another example of his vision of death. Then as he contemplates his swoon he reaches a conclusion, " there are two stages: first, that of the sense of mental or spiritual; second, that of the sense of physical existence," (290). He realizes that memories are of mental and physical existence and questions his own memories which make the reader doubt his narrations. The references to madness lead the reader to believe that he is unreliable. The narrator's suicide attempts further the question of his sanity.
After scrutinizing his confinement he realizes there is a deep abyss smelling of carrion and tries to jump but doesn't, "In other conditions of mind, I might have had the courage to end my misery at once, by plunge into one of these abysses; but now I was the yeriest of cowards,"(295). He realizes that if the conditions were different he would have jumped but he is a coward though he still tries to. He is still deciding if life is worth living. As the crescent blade oscillates above him he tries to shorten this torture, "I grew frantically mad and struggled to force myself upward against the sweep of the fearful scimitar," (297). He tries to move himself closer to the blade but with no avail. He comes closer at his second attempt to die. He fears it yet wants it now. Then as the walls of his confinement enclosed and engulfed him he gives up, "I struggled no more, but the agony of my soul found vent in one loud, long, and final scream of despair," (301).He gives up his struggle to survive and lets the wall push him into pit and he gives a final shout of despair. He has finally given up and accepted death. The circumstances now left him no choice and he chose death over a final struggle. These attempts to end his existence add to the reader's belief of his
reliability. The narrator through the story mentions his own death. During the beginning of the narrator's account, he was sick, "I was sicksick 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," (290). He not only mentions that he is sick to death he also mentions that his senses were leaving him. Then after his failed attempt to jump into the pit, he emptied a pitcher of drugged water, "A deep sleep fell upon mea sleep like that of death," (295). He referred to his sleep as death as if wishing for death itself. After his second attempt at death, he questions his right to have hope and struggles to regain it, "In vain I struggled to perfect to regain it. Long suffering had nearly annihilated all my ordinary powers of mind," (297). He admits that almost his entire mind was annihilated which is another example of how close to death he is to lose his mind. The narrator's reference to his own death shows that he is unreliable. Through Edgar Allan Poe's use of his [narrator] references to madness, his suicide attempts, and his references to his own death makes us question the reliability of the narrator. After analyzing the story, the narrator is unreliable because of his reference to madness, his suicide attempts, and his references to his own death.
(290). This is his vision of death in the form of his judges appearing before him as if they are going to end his trivial existence. After his encounter with heinous judges he sees hope that falls into oblivion, " the tall candles sank into nothingness! Their flames went out utterly; the blackness of darkness supervened; all sensations appeared swallowed up in a mad rushing decent, as of the soul into Hades," (290). His hope is gone and now he expresses his vision of an incubus of darkness as if his soul where being swallowed which is another example of his vision of death. Then as he contemplates his swoon he reaches a conclusion, " there are two stages: first, that of the sense of mental or spiritual; second, that of the sense of physical existence," (290). He realizes that memories are of mental and physical existence and questions his own memories which make the reader doubt his narrations. The references to madness lead the reader to believe that he is unreliable. The narrator's suicide attempts further the question of his sanity.
After scrutinizing his confinement he realizes there is a deep abyss smelling of carrion and tries to jump but doesn't, "In other conditions of mind, I might have had the courage to end my misery at once, by plunge into one of these abysses; but now I was the yeriest of cowards,"(295). He realizes that if the conditions were different he would have jumped but he is a coward though he still tries to. He is still deciding if life is worth living. As the crescent blade oscillates above him he tries to shorten this torture, "I grew frantically mad and struggled to force myself upward against the sweep of the fearful scimitar," (297). He tries to move himself closer to the blade but with no avail. He comes closer at his second attempt to die. He fears it yet wants it now. Then as the walls of his confinement enclosed and engulfed him he gives up, "I struggled no more, but the agony of my soul found vent in one loud, long, and final scream of despair," (301).He gives up his struggle to survive and lets the wall push him into pit and he gives a final shout of despair. He has finally given up and accepted death. The circumstances now left him no choice and he chose death over a final struggle. These attempts to end his existence add to the reader's belief of his
reliability. The narrator through the story mentions his own death. During the beginning of the narrator's account, he was sick, "I was sicksick 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," (290). He not only mentions that he is sick to death he also mentions that his senses were leaving him. Then after his failed attempt to jump into the pit, he emptied a pitcher of drugged water, "A deep sleep fell upon mea sleep like that of death," (295). He referred to his sleep as death as if wishing for death itself. After his second attempt at death, he questions his right to have hope and struggles to regain it, "In vain I struggled to perfect to regain it. Long suffering had nearly annihilated all my ordinary powers of mind," (297). He admits that almost his entire mind was annihilated which is another example of how close to death he is to lose his mind. The narrator's reference to his own death shows that he is unreliable. Through Edgar Allan Poe's use of his [narrator] references to madness, his suicide attempts, and his references to his own death makes us question the reliability of the narrator. After analyzing the story, the narrator is unreliable because of his reference to madness, his suicide attempts, and his references to his own death.