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Pit And The Pendulum Essay

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Pit And The Pendulum Essay
Pit and the Pendulum essay
Emily Springer pd.2
10.21.14

Poe’s Pit and Pendulum can relate to life where you are uncertain of what your future will be due to different obstacles you face. In this story the author uses darkness, oblivion and deception to create an effective tone and atmosphere throughout the story.
The darkness really plays an important role in the beginning of this story. Having the narrator alone and left with his thoughts and fears to consume him sets an eerie tone. “The blackness of eternal night encompassed me, I struggled for breath. The intensity of the darkness seemed to oppress me and stifle me.” Here the narrator shows how the darkness was slowly consuming him his fear of his fate could be represented by the darkness that encompassed him.
To set an effective atmosphere Poe uses oblivion. Oblivion plays an obvious role in this story the narrator is oblivious to what surrounds him as well as his fate. “Perspiration burst from every pore, and stood in cold big beads upon my forehead. The agony of suspense grew at length intolerable, and I cautiously moved forward, with my arms extended, and my eyes straining from their sockets, in the hope of catching some faint ray of light.” While trying to figure out what surrounds him it is obvious that the narrator is anxious and fearful of what is to come. “Was I left to perish of starvation in this subterranean world of darkness; or what fate, perhaps even more fearful, awaited me?” Having the narrator be uncertain of what his death will be gives off a mysterious tone. The atmosphere is set to be frightening and is effective because of the way the Poe makes the narrator oblivious to his fate.
Deception is another way the author creates an effective tone. Unsure of the dimensions of his dungeon the narrator struggled to figure out what really surrounds him. The narrator is left to rely on his senses, which will surely deceive him due to the obvious, darkness and his fatigue. “My confusion of mind
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