The Pit and the Pendulum: Author's Tactic For Conveying Emotions

In his story 'The Pit and the Pendulum'', Edgar A. Poe uses a few main suspense tactics in order to convey the message he desires. He uses suspenseful language at the beginning of each new paragraph, he foreshadows a lot of dangerous events, and he uses repetitive language to convey a point that is evident.

So primarily he uses suspenseful language at the beginning of his paragraphs. The use of his adjective shaking or words and language pertaining to him not knowing or being able to see what’s going on only makes an addition to the very suspenseful tone of the overall novel. Also, He uses suspenseful language in the beginning of paragraphs to draw in the reader and to continue doing so as you read into the story.

Edgar also uses foreshadowing within his story 'The pit and the pendulum'. For example, in the beginning of the story, It says, “And when they at length unbound me, and I was permitted to sit, I felt that my senses were leaving me. The sentence-the sentence of death.” This foreshadows the scene when the character is tied down and the pendulum is over him swinging closer and closer. It’s a moment of death and where he is bound. The foreshadowing of dangerous events is a great way to add more darkness and gloomy tone to this novel.

Repetitious language is all over the place because it is mainly used to emphasise or make it clear that it is something important. For example, the author says, “I was sick-sick unto death with that long agony.” By doubling the word “sick, Poe makes it very clear that our narrator isn’t feeling very well-it also allows him to modify it and give it more power. When he adds that phrase, “unto death”, well, we know exactly how bad he’s feeling. Repetition also occurs when our narrator is watching the pendulum come even closer to his body. “Down-steadily down it crept. Down-certainly, relentlessly down. Down-still unceasingly-still inevitably down.” This kind of language is totally unapologetically dramatic. There’s no question this stuff is over the top, but then again, so is the world Poe describes.

These aren’t the only techniques Edgar uses in his story 'The Pit and the Pendulum' to exhibit his message, but these are one of the main ones that he uses more frequently. Without these many techniques, Edgar A. Poe would not have conveyed his message clearly at all. But knowing Edgar and his stories, these tackles will never be unused.