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Pit And The Pendulum Symbolism

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Gabriella Young Mrs. Bates English 10 Adv 10 April, 2023 Literary Analysis of “The Pit and the Pendulum” Imagine watching your death slowly descend upon you. It is how Edgar Allan Poe wrote the character in “The Pit and the Pendulum.”. In “The Pit and the Pendulum” a man awaits death in absolutely awful conditions accompanied in his prison only by large rats. In the story Poe uses senses, symbolism, imagery, and foreshadowing to illustrate the horror and agony of death by torture. Poe uses senses to be able to somewhat feel, see, and hear the same as the character. “A tingling sensation pervading my frame”, “My outstretched hands at length encountered some solid obstruction”, “the tumultuous motion of the heart, and, in my ears, the sound of it beating.”. Poe uses these quotes to help describe what the character is feeling and hearing. It …show more content…

“It was the painted figure of Time as he is commonly represented, save that, in lieu of a scythe, he held a what at a casual, i supposed to be the picture of a huge pendulum such as we see on antique clocks.”. Poe uses the quote to symbolize time and death. For time represents time running out and the scythe will be used to attempt to end his life. Imagery is used to help the reader see what the character is seeing. “Its sweep was brief, and of course slow.”, “I saw several large rats traversing it.”. The quotes above tell the character what the character is seeing to help them imagine it. It describes the size of the rats by saying they are large. And Poe writes that the pendulum sweep was slow. Poe uses foreshadowing to help show an impending doom. “I supposed to be the pictured image of a huge pendulum such as we see on antique clocks.”, “ The sweep of the pendulum had increased in extent by nearly a yard.”. The quotes foreshadow death. The pendulum is used to foreshadow time running out. The sweep of the pendulum is used to foreshadow the way he will

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