Saturday, October 17, 2015

In "The Pit and the Pendulum", how does the darkness magnify his fears, and what issues will he have when rescued?

We've all experienced that flailing fear when encased in the dark.  At first, the narrator doesn't even want to open his eyes because "it was not that I feared to look upon things horrible, but that I grew aghast lest there should be nothing to see".  When he does open them, and it is pitch black, his "worst thoughts, then, were confirmed."  His worse fear, that he is in a tomb, keeps him paralyzed until he's brave enough to explore.  That fear quelched, he fears all of the rumors he's heard of the dungeons in Toledo.  And because he can't see, he imagines the worst.

Until a light is lit, the narrator comments over and over again about  how he imagined this, or that, and how each imagining terrified him.  It wasn't until he could see that he felt some relief; at least he KNEW.  He says that he took a "wild interest" in looking around and figuring out just exactly what he was up against. 

When rescued, he might be overwhelmed by the light, noise and crowds of people, and maybe some Post-Traumatic-Stress issues.  Other than that, I should hope the only "issues" he will have to deal with is sweet relief, joy and bliss.  :)

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