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Symbolism In Edgar Allan Poe's The Pit And The Pendulum

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Symbolic essay of the Pit and the Pendulum Symbols can deepen the symbolic meaning of a story, this is exquisitely portrayed in Edgar Allan Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum. At the beginning of the story, the narrator finds himself being sentenced by an Inquisitorial court, shortly after, he wakes up in a dungeon drugged and started to determine the dimensions of the dungeon. He then falls but is able to bypass a large pit in the middle of the dungeon. In addition, he finds a sharp pendulum hanging over him dropping slowly, driving him to near madness. Towards the end, the raw food which his captives had given him helps to draw rats to the narrator and gnaw away the bonds on the contraption he was tied to. In the end, as the pendulum is close to the narrator, he rubs the rotten food on the rope so the rats can chew through it. When the pendulum finally drops the rats save him just in time, freeing him from the ropes. Just as he thought it was over, the walls start closing in on the …show more content…

Symbolism is utilized throughout the Pit and the Pendulum, illustrating the unpleasantness of life, social structures of society, and vileness of human nature. Poe symbolizes the unpleasantness in his short story by using the pit, which portrays the evil in the world because it can be a representation of hell, in a religious point of view, “I now saw clearly the doom which had been prepared for me, and congratulated myself upon the timely accident by which I had escaped. A step farther before my fall, and the world had seen me no more (poe).” This quote is a representation of hell as it talks about how the world could not see him anymore, much like hell which is perceived to be deep underneath the world where no one can find or see it. He also uses the Spanish Inquisition, which was a punishment to non- catholics, and if they were found not to

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Finding Escape in Ones Desires Symbols are probably the strongest literary devices when it comes to describing a story or character. In some story there are symbols that without them the story would be completely different. In Johnny Depp by Socorro Venegas and 100% perfect Girl by Haruki Murakami symbols play a key role to the meaning of the story. Through the use to symbolism in these two stories both authors show the desires of the main characters, and without these symbols the stories would not be able to convey the same meaning.

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The well-known symbol, the raven, signifies the presence of death, which we later learn was the death of his well-beloved, Lenore (Davis). One of the more prominent allusions is the reference of the Plutonian Shore which refers to the underworld and the wait for the ferryman to take the banished across to the gates of Hell (Davis). This symbolic allusion helps Poe describe the night as hellish (Davis). Another symbol that is easy to pick out is the bust of Pallas that the raven perches on. The symbolism of the Goddess Athena and of her great wisdom helps the reader understand how the author will always have the curse of persistent memory; a "mournful and never-ending remembrance" (MeJohnson).

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An example of this imagery the Poe uses is the ebony clock chiming and making the people in the entertainment room go silent in fear. “…. while the chimes of the clock yet rung, it observed that the giddiest grew pale, and more aged and sedate passed their hands

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Symbolism is a major device used in literature. It helps explain that words are not just meanings. Symbolism shows that words can be explained by using images or objects. In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, symbols help emphasize the themes in the story. The major themes are the Hearth and the Salamander, fire and blood.

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My final symbol that was recognized through what Poe portrays is the hallway. The hallway holds symbols for the story because it represents the journey of life. A quote to support this is, “A tall and narrow Gothic window looked out upon a closed corridor which pursued the windings of the suite” (Poe 2). This quote shows that dying is inevitable and there will always be an end to life. At the end of the hallway there is a black room which Poe has portrayed as the room that symbolizes death.

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In Pit and Pendulum the conflict between the character and itself creates a suspense, and same for the Normal form Button Button. In Pit and Pendulum, Poe uses imagery and sensory details to illustrate the conflict between the character and himself. The main character conflict with himself is illustrated by,“There could be no doubt of the design of my tormentors - oh! most unrelenting! oh!... Yet, for a wild moment, did my spirit refuse to comprehend the meaning of what I saw.

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Poe also uses symbolism to depict the theme of death. He does this in three diverse ways. The first is with the rooms of the abbey and their colors. The colors of the rooms and the order they are in symbolize the stages of life leading to death or impending doom. The first

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Terror is something that every living thing has experienced in their lives, from humans to ants. It manifests itself as the emotion of fear in the minds of those who experience it. Edgar Allan Poe creates a sense of terror in “The Pit and the Pendulum” by expressing symbolism; he uses the candles, the pendulum, and General Lasalle arriving. Poe uses the candles to, at first, symbolize hope and charity then, to represent angles and meaningless spectators. “At first they wore the aspect of charity”(Poe 856) to the unnamed narrator; it showed that he still had hope even though he was locked in a dungeon.

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Symbolism is one of the most important properties a story can have. It's often used to develop a character or a theme throughout the story that is being told. Symbolism in literature is best described by as the use of symbols and objects to signify ideas and qualities by giving them a symbolic meanings that are very different from their literal sense. The short stories "Where are you going, Where have you been?" and "The Yellow Wallpaper" have very obvious examples of symbolism.

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“The wine sparkled in his eyes and the bells jingled. My own fancy grew warm with the Medoc. We had passed through walls of piled bones, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recesses of the catacombs.” (Poe, paragraph 50). Through Poe’s writings, he regularly shows strong descriptions which help convey

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The second major imagery in the story is the clock in the black room that Poe shows in the story. “The clock in the Black Room” (86). This piece of evidence demonstrates the clock is in the black room, and the black room represents the end of a life. Whenever this clock rings that mean that someone died. The last example of imagery is the Stanger.

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