Point of View. The vantage point from which a story is told is called point of view. “The Pit and the Pendulum” is written from a first-person point of view, in which the narrator uses such pronouns as I and me. The narrator’s point of view can be limited, in which the narrator can reveal the private, internal thoughts of himself or herself or of a single character. Point of view can also be omniscient, revealing the private, internal thoughts of any character. Is the narrator’s point of view in “The Pit and the Pendulum” limited or omniscient?
Gothic Fiction. Gothic fiction is a style of fiction characterized by the use of medieval settings, a murky atmosphere of horror and gloom, and grotesque, mysterious, and violent incidents. Essential to Gothic fiction is a setting that evokes strong feelings of foreboding or fearful anticipation. How does the setting in “The Pit and the Pendulum” achieve this purpose?
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“The Pit and the Pendulum” is a tale of terror, a short story nightmare. Poe’s stories often were set in foreign locales, rarely in familiar American locations. Removed from familiar settings, the stories take on macabre, mysterious overtones that add to their overall mood of strangeness and suspense.
The Spanish Inquisition, which lasted from the 1400s to the 1800s, provides a fitting setting for this story of a man who finds himself imprisoned for reasons he cannot understand and becomes the helpless victim of unknowable and cruel torturers. The Inquisition began as an attempt by the Catholic Church to identify and punish heretics, who refused to believe in the Church’s teachings. However, the Inquisition degenerated into an excuse for those in power to persecute their enemies, as was the case with the prisoner in this tale.
“The Raven” was Poe’s first international success. When it was published in 1845 in the New York Evening Mirror, the editor warned readers that “it would stick to the memory of everybody who reads it.” It seems that this prophecy came true, because soon after the poem’s publication, “The Raven” was read and reread by critics, poets, and students all over the world. To this day, “The Raven” is included in many anthologies; it has become a staple in the education of American students. Poe himself considered it to be one of his finest works. In 1846, he claimed that “future generations will be able to sift the gold from the dross, and ‘The Raven’ will be beheld, shining above them all as a diamond of the purest water.”
Do you enjoy taking carnival rides, going to “haunted houses,” and watching or reading thrillers and horror stories? Why, or why not?
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