From the beginning, it is very evident that this is a dark romantic short story. The sixth word in the short story is “death” and it immediately launches into the psychological nightmare of being held captive and being shocked until the character passes out. It goes on to talk about what happens when someone regains consciousness after passing out. One good example of how this is a writing of a romanticism writing is the fact that Poe separates the awakening process into the regaining of the mental and spiritual consciousness, and then the regaining of the physical awareness. The fact that he puts the mental before the physical is a great example of the romantic writing style. He also talks about even though he was unconscious, there was still a little bit of consciousness left and goes on to relate it to the fact that he thinks that “even in the grave, not all is lost” (Poe 2). In my personal opinion, the second paragraph is very important because along with the first two examples, there is a third example of how this is a romantic writing. Poe talks about the convoluted thoughts in the “gulf” of the unconscious mind, if able to be recalled, could possibly be similar to the “shadows from that of the tomb” (Poe 2). Poe then goes on to argue that people who have experienced this kind of unconsciousness see things that other people do not; a very psychological claim to make, making the reader think of what it would be like to experience it for themselves.
The next section of the story is a realization of many people’s worst fears. Upon regaining his consciousness once more, he starts to explore with his hands. He feels something damp, hard, and very close to him. For a time, he did not want to open his eyes not because he did not want to “look upon things horrible,” but that he would look and there would be “nothing to see” (Poe 5). After he opens his eyes, his fears are confirmed; he can not see anything. He reasons that he has been buried alive given the fact that even in his cell, there is at least a little bit of light. The narrator soon starts exploring his vault. While walking around it to ascertain the size and shape of it, he falls, and while he lay there, he discovers that he had almost fallen into a large, deep pit. The rest of the story does not seem very important, to me at least. The pit is one of the more important psychological aspects of the story.
In the end, right before he is killed by the walls of his cell that are closing in on him, he is rescued by the “outstretched arm” of the French General Lasalle. One interpretation of this brings up a very good point that this story could be the narrator’s attempts at remembering something that could be a real event or that of a dream (May 1). This story is a very psychological story putting the reader in the situation of the narrator.
Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Pit and the Pendulum." Literature.org - The Online Literature Library. Web. 30 Jan. 2012.
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