Edgar+Alan+Poe

The Pit and the Pendulum By: Edgar Allan Poe

The story is about a man that lived during the Spanish Inquisition. He was captured and put into a dungeon in a prison. He was sentenced to death. While he was waiting to receive his death sentence, he was knocked out and lost consciousness. When he woke up the air was pitch black and he couldn't see anything. He thought they might have put him in a tomb. He realized that he was in a room because he could walk around the perimeter of the room. He then decided to walk across the room and he tripped and fell. His head was lying on air which led him to believe that there was a circular pit in the center of the room. To estimate how deep the hole was, he threw a stone into the circular pit. He believed the hole was pretty deep and that it had water at the bottom. He fell asleep and when he woke up, he was given some bread and water. After drinking the water he fell asleep and dreamed that the water was drugged. When he woke up, he was lying on a wooden board tied down by a strap and the room was dimly lit. When he looked up at the ceiling, he saw a sharp pendulum pointing right at him. He saw that it was moving closer to him but very slowly. He was given some meat but no water this time. He saw some rats near his food. When the sharp pendulum was almost at him, he rubbed meat on the strap and the rats started chewing away at the straps which helped him get away right before the pendulum got there. As he moved away, the pendulum retracted toward the roof which made him believe people were watching him. Then the walls started to heat up and move closer to him which would force him into the pit. Once the walls were real close to him and he was starting to fall into the pit, they suddenly cooled down and retracted. All of a sudden a hand grabbed him and kept him from falling into the pit. It was the French General. His army had successfully taken over the prison to stop the Inquisition.

A) In this short story Poe mentions the Inquisition in a variety of ways such was when the French General saved him from falling into the pit when the French Army took over the prison. This shows the time period the story took place in ** the 1600's. B) Edgar Alan Poe was born in 1809, and died in 1849. He was an American writer and was considered part of the American Romantic Movement. He had a hard life growing up as his parents died when he was young. He tried to make a living as an author which made it financially hard for him to live an easy life. He spent a short time at the University of Virginia. Poe died in Baltimore and it is unknown how he died.
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 * Reflection**: The short story "The Pit and the Pendulum" is a very interesting story. I like how it keeps you wanting to read more because you always want to know what happens next. It has a very surprising ending which makes the story exciting. I was surprised to see him get saved by the French General when I thought he was going to die. The author Edgar Alan Poe was a very strange guy as you can tell by reading his stories such as this one. His stories are interesting but usually with a strange twist.