Edgar Allen Poe wrote many pieces in his life time. All of which conveyed similar yet different meanings. In the story the pit and the pendulum, the story came across rather disturbing and hard to comprehend. When I was reading the summary from the apocalyptic view on it, there was many people’s view point on just exactly was the pit and the pendulum suppose to represent or symbolize. This made me understand the argument being debated in the apocalyptic view. The people of various short stories were debating the issue at hand. They also compared the story with various other writings to try and depict the meaning. The most accurate one that I was able to agree with would be the one from Marie Bonaparte.
Marie Bonaparte’s argument was that it was symbolizing the birth process. As the person in the story was in the dungeon and kept opening its eyes yet still not being able to remember what was going on since he was loosing consciousness really symbolizes the fetus. The fetus in the wound and the opening of the eyes helped depict the scenario of a child opening their eyes to the wounds walls around them and not really knowing what is going on. She also mentions how at the end as the walls are closing in on the man due to its fate. It symbolizes the birth. The baby is almost due so the walls are closing in forcing the baby down the birth canal. The downside to this analysis of the text is that, in the beginning of the story, there mentions the allusions the character is seeing. Where exactly would all of this fit into play? The allusion of the seven candles, what exactly would this be representing. Also the main aspect of the pendulum does not really fit the inference about the birth process.
Now in the literary work, there also are other views of what exactly is was Poe was symbolizing. Another view on the story is that the story tells of “mankind’s fall and redemption as a psychological process of loss and restoration”. They feel the story is a rewrite of a biblical story. They tie this aspect with Bonaparte’s inference of what is going on. They feel that the restoration is suppose to symbolize the birth process. However pieces are missing with adding the concept of religion. They are tying together the religious aspect of everything with this terrifying story Poe is unfolding. There are parts missing out of this aspect. For one, the religious story that they are trying to compare it too is a myth. So, technically some aspects may not be clear so for someone to create such an elaborate piece on it just don’t seem reasonable enough to believe. This leaves to many open spaces that need to be filled in order to make this a little more accurate.
Also they bring in the aspect that humans go through different things in their life and part of human conditions is terrible suffering. The nameless character deals with the sentence of knowing death is coming but not knowing how and when. This leaves the character scared and this further gives room for the interpretation to be that there speaking of just the everyday person dealing with agonizing pain and tying all things together with the fall in the biblical myth. Now this however is reasonable to some degree. For one there are several things left out of Poe’s story. For one the character is nameless. This makes the story come across for fictional and not really having as much symbolic value as everyone is trying to make it have.
They also explain in detail the whole idea behind instinct vs. reason. In the story, the man tries to control his destiny. He knows he will die so he chooses also to try and pick the way he will die. This in return helps bring back some if his sanity. However, the whole concept does not tie into the analysis made before. Instinct and reason has nothing to do with the biblical and birth analysis. This principal comes up with another analysis as being the man having a battle with his own mind. Having it be all a mental disorder or trauma. The man is in battle with the mind causing insanity and that leads to the end when he controls faith, him almost winning because he gains some sanity from it all. In doing so, he told a terrifying story for readers.
