Different Perspectives: Same Story Imagine watching a film adaptation of a movie, then ask yourself, did you ever read the short story version? Sometimes they could be constructive due to the different perspectives of the author and the director. Like Edgar Allan Poe, the enigmatic author of the 1800s published “The Pit and the Pendulum” in 1842 to illustrate the darkness of death. In this short story the narrator who is sentenced to death finds himself striving for an escape. While the director, Roger Corman, released his film adaptation of the short story in 1961, over a century later, to express its similarity to Poe’s original work. The film revolved around, Francis, a British man who goes to the grotesque Medina castle to invest his sister, …show more content…
The luxurious castle with a dining room, piano, and servants are few of the factors that represent the status of the Medina family (Corman, 1961). In contrast, the narrator lives in a prison with a wooden floor, circular pit, and received food and water occasionally (Poe, 9 and 18). The narrator even clarified that, the water “...must have been drugged—for scarcely had I drunk, before I became irresistibly drowsy (Poe, 10).” This illustrates the distinct lifestyles of the characters. As a result, the setting of the castle creates a romantic mood. For example, when Nicholas shows Francis Elizabeth’s room it consists of her paintings, a stately bed, and expensive furniture that represents his love for his dead wife. Nevertheless, the affectionate conversation between Francis and Catherine illustrates that the utopian setting played a key role in their undeclared relationship (Corman, 1961). On the contrary, the Narrator’s prison cell created a lethal atmosphere (Poe, 7). Hence, the different settings contributed to the change of atmosphere in the short story vs. the