"Pit and the Pendulum" Criticism needed!

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Does anyone know where i could find some good, credible online criticism on Poe's "pit and the pendulum"? if you do please respond with links...i'm in the murky depths of a very devouring senior paper.

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2001

Answers

Not able to surf around myself but there should be material in a large library, possibly online at www.eapoe.org or poedecoder.com.

In some stories Poe's narrator is the murderer. This one is more conventional in being the adventure of the potential victim even complete with a rather abrupt rescue that disappoints in that the cleverness and courage of the narrator ultimately failed. that itself is an interesting statement about the persistence of reason over fear and adversity and the unknown. The real emotion in the story is the claustrophobic grinding away on the nerves by the cruel rtomrents of the Inquisition. I find it interesting too Poe's use of the double or extra ending, the second shock that is partly evidenced in shock movies today. He escapes the Pendulum after a harrowing struggle only to be pressed by heated walls toward the Pit and inevitable death. There are other double endings in Poe's stories, the second one being the most catastrophic clincher. This might not be original to Poe but it shows once again his penchant for dualism and doubling within himself.

-- Anonymous, November 07, 2001


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