Content Synopsis

In the short story, “The Pit and the Pendulum” the narrator begins by describing the moment in which he is sentenced to death by a group of “judges” during the Spanish Inquisition. At the moment he is condemned, his senses escaped him and he can no longer hear the judges, only can he see their lips moving. He is horrified at first and then he thinks about death and “what sweet rest there must be in the grave.” After that, he is comforted and then he faints. The narrator insists that he did not lose consciousness but he “swooned’ and does not remember what happened on the physical level.

The narrator then goes on to describe this stage of consciousness and his attempts to remember what occurs in the mind during this stage so as to distinguish it from death. In this attempt, his mental instability reveals itself as he remembers “tall figures that lifted and bore me in silence down….” When he regains full consciousness, he opens his eyes and his surroundings are completely dark. He begins to wonder what place or even what state of mind he is currently in. He is momentarily frozen with fear at the thought that he might be entrapped in a tomb until he realizes that he is able to sit up and move around.

The narrator recalls all of the rumors about Toledo, the prison where he must serve his sentence until his execution and realizes that he is in one of its dungeons. He tries to feel his way around the dungeon, but trips in the darkness and, overcome with exhaustion, falls asleep. When he awakens, bread and water have been placed beside him. After eating, he makes another attempt to meander the vault and slips again on the slimy floor. He is inches from falling into a cavernous pit and recalls more stories about the different methods of torture used during the Inquisition.

After another period of sleep, he awakens to more food and water but upon drinking the water, he realizes it has been drugged. He drifts off and when he wakes up, the dungeon has been lit. He can see but he is now tethered to a wood slab and can only move his head and left arm. As he studies the ceiling above him, he observes a painted figure of Time holding a large pendulum that appears to be moving slowly. Looking around the cell where he is trapped, he notices a bunch of rats climbing out of the pit and moving towards him. After about an hour of trying to scare them away, the narrator looks back at the ceiling and realizes that the pendulum has increased its sweep and is moving much faster than before. It is also descending from the ceiling and he can see that the moving “extremity was formed of a crescent of glittering steel” which is razor sharp. He realizes that this is the way in which he is going to be killed.

The narrator reasons that his torturers had planned to kill him by way of the giant pit but since he discovered it before falling in, they came up with an alternative method of execution. After hours of watching the pendulum descend closer and closer to him, it still has not come close enough to kill him. As the rats feast on the remains of his food, he determines that if he rubs the crumbs and oils on the cloth that binds him, the rats will help chew him free. After a time, the rats climb over him and eventually he is able to free himself from the tethers and the deadly pendulum. As soon as he is free, the pendulum rises back to the ceiling confirming the narrator's suspicions that he is being watched.

The narrator discovers that the light shining into the dungeon is coming from a hole between the floor and the wall. He peers into the hole and sees “demon eyes” glaring at him. Suddenly the walls grow red-hot and start closing in on the narrator. He wrestles with the choice to die by burning or the dreaded pit. Just as has lost all hope, he hears the sound of the French army barge in. The walls pull back and a general grabs him just before he falls into the pit.

Symbols & Motifs

The pendulum in the story is a clear symbol of the passing of time and the unavoidable journey towards death. Death surrounds the narrator in various forms. The fact that death does not actually befall the protagonist is unusual for Poe.

The physical and emotional torture that the narrator endures is symbolic of hell. The man receives his day of judgment and then awakens to a dark empty place. Like Poe's setting, hell is often depicted as underground, complete with fire and populated with demons. Likewise, hell is described as a place that inflicts constant physical and psychological suffering on the damned. The general who rescues the protagonist at the end of the story is symbolic of God reaching down to save the man's soul (Poe Perplex).

Historical Context

“The Pit and the Pendulum” draws on the period in history known as the Inquisition. The Inquisition refers to a time when Rome was testing its citizens’ loyalty to the Catholic Church (Edwards, Murray and Alpert). Established in the early 13th century by Pope Innocent III, the Romans became known for their efforts to suppress religious freedom and for their brutal methods of dealing with those they determined to be heretics (Edwards, Murray and Alpert). At first, those not following the Catholic Church were called upon to repent their sins during a “period of grace” (Jewish Virtual Library). After the period of grace, those who had not repented were accused of heresy and forced to stand trial where a sentence was delivered (Jewish Virtual Library). Punishments included physical and psychological torture, confinement to dungeons and being burned at the stake (Jewish Virtual Library).

In 1478, the Spanish Inquisition was established and for 350 years was known to be even more brutal. Tribunals were established in many Spanish cities and millions of Jews, Muslims, and Protestants were tried, like Poe's protagonist, and sentenced to imprisonment, torture and death (Edwards, Murray and Alpert). Between 1486–1492, 25 auto de fes were held in Toledo, the setting of “The Pit and the Pendulum” (Jewish Virtual Library). An “auto de fes” is a pubic condemnation of those found guilty and included a Catholic prayer and a reading of the sentence (Jewish Virtual Library). Four hundred sixty-seven people were burned at the stake there and many others were imprisoned. Torture and executions always took place after the “auto de fes” (Jewish Virtual Library).

The Inquisition was not limited to Europe and can be traced to such locations as Asia, Guatemala, and Brazil (Jewish Virtual Library). By the late 18th century, most inquisitions were abolished (Jewish Virtual Library).

Societal Context

“The Pit and the Pendulum” is a departure for Poe in that the protagonist prevails. Most of his stories end with the destruction of the protagonists. Shortly after his death, Poe was accused of plagiarizing the story (Hamilton). Poe may have been inspired by the 1817 book “History of the Spanish Inquisition” by Juan Antonio Llorente. Despite the accusations, Poe took some creative license in his methods of torture (Hamilton) and his main focus was on the effects of terror and psychological torture on a man more than a period in history.

Not unusual for Poe is the use of gothic elements in his writing. Gothic literature was popular during the 1800s and included supernatural events, folklore, dungeons, tombs and medieval history (Hamilton). The dark and strange atmosphere of Gothic literature suited Poe and is certainly evident in “The Pit and the Pendulum.”

Religious Context

“The Pit and the Pendulum” addresses the religious persecution that took place during the Spanish Inquisition, but it also depicts an environment that resembles certain images of hell. The fact that “an outstretched arm” pulls the narrator to safety signifies the hand of God coming to the man's rescue (Poe Perplex). This symbolic rescue is ironic considering the man being tortured is most likely not a follower of Christianity and thus, not a believer in this image of God. Poe might be suggesting that God protects all men, not just those that believe. Poe himself was raised in a devout Episcopalian household. Although it is not certain if he was a practicing Christian, he knew the Bible well and attended church sporadically in adulthood (The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore).

Scientific & Technological Context

“The Pit and the Pendulum” broke the mold for literature at the time, as did many of Poe's other short stories in that he introduces a distinctly psychological element to the narrative. The narrator of the story is being tortured, physically as well as psychologically as evidenced by his placement in a dark dungeon without any information regarding his sentence. He is in the dark, literally and figuratively, as he tries to determine where he is and how he will be punished. As he pieces together the details of his sentence, he is further tortured by the slow and mysterious methods used in attempts to torture and kill the man. First he must wander around the pitch-black dungeon barely escaping a fall into the pit as he drifts in an out of consciousness due to the drugged food and water he receives. Then a swinging pendulum drops slowly and viciously above the narrator's head as he waits for it to eviscerate him. After escaping the pendulum he must await his torturers’ next attempt to kill him. Repeatedly, the narrator must suffer the mental anguish of coming face-to-face with his own mortality, knowing that at any moment some horrible method of execution will befall him.

Biographical Context

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston in 1809 to a traveling actor and actress. When Poe was born, his father abandoned his mother (“Edgar Allan Poe”). She died a few years later while on tour in Virginia and he was taken in by a wealthy couple in Richmond; John and Frances Allan, who could not have children. While the Allans cared for and educated Poe, they never formally adopted him and John Allan never warmed to his foster son. Once in college at the University of Virginia, Poe accrued a large gambling debt and John Allan withdrew him from school (“Edgar Allan Poe”). After a heated argument, Poe left home and moved to Boston.

In 1827, in Boston, Poe published a volume of poetry entitled “Tamerlane.” The book did not sell well and, in need of money, Poe joined the army. Poe did not like the army but was promoted to the rank of sergeant major, and with the Allans’ help, he enrolled in the US Military Academy at West Point (“Edgar Allan Poe”). In 1829, Poe published another book of poems “El Aaraaf” which received positive reviews. While at West Point, Allan's wife died and he remarried. Since Poe knew he would no longer be considered as Allan's heir, Poe withdrew from West Point, and moved in with his aunt in Baltimore, Maryland (“Edgar Allan Poe”).

In 1835, Poe married his chronically ill thirteen-year old cousin, Virginia. Poe worked as an editor at various magazines while trying to succeed as a writer (“Edgar Allan Poe”). He wrote only one full-length novel, “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym” but his short stories became his claim to fame. Poe is given credit as the creator of the modern detective story with such stories as “The Gold Bug” and “the Murders in the Rue Morgue.” Other stories, such as “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado” explore the inner demons of a person's mind. In 1845, he published the poem “The Raven,” which brought him fame and solidified his career as a writer.

Unfortunately, alcohol abuse and financial instability continued to plague Poe throughout his life. When his wife died in 1847 of tuberculosis, Poe grew more unstable (“Edgar Allan Poe”). In 1849, Poe disappeared and a week later he was found, battered and delirious, near a Baltimore tavern. He died four days later at the age of 40 and his death remains a mystery to this day.

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