Discussion Topic
Symbols in "The Pit and the Pendulum"
Summary:
In "The Pit and the Pendulum," the symbols include the pit, representing hell and hopelessness; the pendulum, symbolizing the passage of time and inevitable death; and the rats, which signify both despair and unexpected salvation. These symbols collectively enhance the story's themes of fear, torture, and the struggle for survival.
What do rats symbolize in "The Pit and the Pendulum"?
The rats in "The Pit and the Pendulum" present an interesting twist on their traditional symbolic use. Typically, rats symbolize death, decay, and disease, and the narrator actually uses this to his advantage. As he lays bound by strips of cloth that secure him underneath the swinging pendulum that threatens to kill him, the narrator suddenly has an idea to save himself by using the deathly symbolism of the rats. He has a small dish which contains some meaty remnants, and he smears the remaining juices into the cloths which bind him. His hope is that the rats will seek to devour these meat-soaked bandages, which will in turn free him.
Thus, the rats actually come to symbolize the narrator's freedom. In an ironic twist, the creatures the narrator fears who are "wild, bold, [and] ravenous" save his life. As he lays perfectly still to help the rats...
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believe that he, too, is dead and not a threat, the rats "busy themselves with the anointed bandage." He waits in disgust, their cold lips searching for his own, until the anticipated moment arrives and he realizes that the bandages are first loosened and then that he is free, thanks to the efforts of the very creatures which he at first only associated with death.
What could the pit symbolize in "The Pit and the Pendulum"?
The pit in "The Pit and the Pendulum" could symbolize a few things: despair, fear, or even Hell. The depth of the pit, which was so vast that it took a few seconds for a small piece of the side of the pit to actually make it to the water pooled at the bottom, could act as a symbol of the narrator's despair at his plight, which was also incredibly deep. The pit could also be a manifestation of the narrator's fear; at first he is afraid of the dark and unknown, which is exactly what the pit is (even when the lights came on), but even when it becomes known, the watery death it held very far below was just as terrifying as before. Then there is the obvious connection to Hell, which is often referred to as "the Pit" because it is supposedly deep beneath the earth.