Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum” tells a story of a prisoner’s experience in a cell after being captured by the Spanish Inquisition.  The story is told from the prisoner’s point of view, which makes it easier for the reader to connect to him and sympathize for him. The reader is truly connected to the prisoner’s thoughts and feels the fear that he experiences. The concept of fear can be seen throughout “The Pit and the Pendulum” in the mind of the prisoner.  The Spanish inquisition attempts to implement this idea of fear in the mind, thinking that this will make their prisoner unable to make an escape plan. For the prisoner in the story, he does not let this fear produced by the swinging pendulum and bottomless pit prevent him from thinking rationally or making an escape plan. Instead, this fear makes the prisoner think quickly, allowing him to outsmart his way of each death situation he is faced with. Fear allows for the actions that are in response to the tactics used by the Spanish inquisition. Without fear, the prisoner would have no desire to escape and to figure his way out of each death situation that is brought upon him. Fear is important to the reader as well because they feel the fear through the prisoner.  While reading the story the reader follows the prisoner through each of his death-defying acts. As the story is told from a first person point of view, it makes everything more real to the readers. They can almost feel the fear in the prisoner’s mind, and can sense the severity of the situation.  There would not be any form of fear without the Spanish Inquisition. They implement torture tactics in the story that are meant to implement fear in the prisoner’s mind.  The pit, pendulum, and the closing walls were all meant to cause fear and torture to the prisoner. The Spanish Inquisition had this sense of dominance over the prisoner. As the prisoner was captured and put into the dark cell, a form of dominance was established. It is clear as to who has complete and full control in this situation. The Spanish Inquisition now had complete control over the prisoner and could do anything to him that they pleased. They controlled his fate, as they decided what torture technique they wanted to use next. The narrator hints that The Inquisition might be observing his every move in the cell for personal entertainment. He believes that they have a hand in every occurrence that takes place. He expresses that he believes they drugged the water that he was drinking so that they had something to watch. They have complete and utter dominance over him. The Inquisition drugged the water he drank so that they could strap him to a wooden board ready for slaughter. To not be able to move, and to be strapped down against will reaches a whole new level of dominance that some readers may have never truly had experience with.  This short story works to show the readers how dominance in its most extreme forms can affect someone mentally. However, the prisoner in the story did not let this dominance faze him. He was still able to think rationally and find his way out of each situation he was faced with. Dominance plays a large role in “The Pit and the Pendulum” by giving a basis for which the Spanish Inquisition had a sense of power over those that they captured. With the concepts of fear and dominance working together,  the plot line in “The Pit and the Pendulum” blossoms, allowing the readers to feel the story through the narrator’s experiences.

The concept of Fear in the mind is prevalent in the short story “The Pit and the Pendulum” by Edgar Allen Poe. There is this sense of horror within the story as the main character attempts to escape death. Death seems to face him right in the face, as it is quickly approaching upon him. The fear of death in this short story takes many forms. The swinging pendulum, the pit, and the closing walls all signal death quickly approaching Although not specifically stated in the story, it can be interpreted that fear has an affect on the mind of the prisoner, and he might suffer from some sort of post-traumatic stress as a result of the incredible amount of fear he experienced in the cell. The main character is in shock of his circumstance, and falls asleep multiple times only to wake up to see death approaching before him. The readers are informed that the story is set during the Spanish inquisition, where capturing prisoners was a commonality. The prisoners were often tortured, but not quite to the degree that Poe presents in “The Pit and the Pendulum”. Fear is important to this short story because it characterizes the inner mind of the main character. Fear and horror go hand in hand with death, and in some cases can affect the brain. Instead of letting the pendulum and pit drive him to insanity, he conquers his own mental fears and acts strategically and meticulously.  He notices the rats gnawing away at food and uses them to eat away at the ropes that bind him to the surface. Poe uses fear in this short story to light a fire underneath the prisoner. Without fear, it is hard to imagine that he would have such a strong desire of escaping. The techniques used by the Spanish inquisition were merely tactics used to evoke fear in their captured prisoner’s mind. Without fear, the story would essentially be lost.  The Inquisition uses fear to hopefully drive their prisoner to insanity, not allowing them to think rationally and eventually die. Much to their surprise, the prisoner in “The Pit and the Pendulum” does not allow fear to characterize him, and rather lets it drive him to success.  Fear provided just the right amount of motivation to the prisoner that it made him develop an escape plan. With this in mind, it can be said that fear can make a person think more quickly, and drive their adrenaline levels high enough to still think rationally, even in a severe situation. Although fear can drive a person to insanity, and at times can make their rationality disappear, Poe does not let this characterize the main character in the story. After escaping, the pit wall begins to condense to crush him, but he does not let this faze his psyche. He does not let fear infect his brain, and begins to think rationally, and eventually gets saved in the nick of time. Poe offers this concept of fear to show that fear, in a sense is relative. The fear that the Spanish Inquisition believed the prisoner was experiencing was very different from what he was actually feeling. His fear allowed him to compose an escape plan that the Inquisition never foresaw.

In an article published by PBS, the affects of torture programs used by the CIA and the U.S. military were analyzed. The article specifically analyzes the differences between physical and psychological torture. Physical torture can be seen through physical harm or pain, where psychological torture is more within the mind. This article analyzes the affects of these two different forms of torture, and weighs out which ones are the most effective. Psychological torture characterizes “The Pit and the Pendulum” since no physical harm was put upon the main character. If he had been physically affected by the torture tactics used by the Inquisition this would be different. If he had in fact fallen in the pit, or had been hit with the pendulum, the fear would turn physical. As explained and supported in the article, at times, psychological fear can outweigh physical due to its long term affects. This form of mental fear can lead to PTSD in the future, as well as other fear based syndromes. It can be interpreted that the prisoner in this story will experience some sort of mental post-traumatic stress due to the environment he was exposed to in the dungeon. As the article explains, people captured in the US military are exposed to things that other people cannot merely imagine. It has lead many of them to develop mental disorders later on in life. The prisoner in the story may experience something similar to PTSD in the future due to the torture he was exposed to.

The second article analyzes fear in a different sense. Fear is relative to perception. Fear can be perceived in different fashions due to someone’s perception of it. For example, a country’s fear is very different from a personal fear. An organized crime on an individual causes a fear that is much different than the fear that is experienced in a large group of people. Torture goes beyond the surface level. Torture can be seen and felt years after its occurrence. People are often left with both physical and mental scars revealing a troubling past. The main character in the story perceives fear from his personal understanding of it. His fear was real, as death was facing him right in front of him. Fear is much more real when death seems to face you right in front of you. The Inquisition that was watching him could not merely grasp the amount of fear that their prisoner was experiencing. Fear is completely relative, and it is what you make of it. It cannot be felt unless you are in the same situation as the person who is experiencing the fear. A person can let fear engulf them, or they can conquer it. The prisoner in the story does not let it characterize him, and conquers it through the story. Every hurdle he overcomes pushes his fear further to the side. This article help the reader understand just what might have been going through the main character’s mind as he was experiencing such morbid thoughts. It also provides a basic understanding for what he might be experiencing after he escapes. He might be suffering from PTSD or some form of depression due to the severity of what he experienced. These two articles offer a key into his mind that the readers can understand. It is hard to imagine just what someone is thinking in this sort of instance, especially because it is hard to relate to. In summary, these articles offer a key into the main characters mind, and help to show what physical and physiological torture can do.

When digging deeper into the true meaning of this short story, one concept seems to stand out more than the others. The concept of dominance can be seen throughout the short story in the form of the Spanish Inquisition. Dominance can have many forms, but for the purpose of this short story it takes the form as a controlled group of people. The Spanish Inquisition acts as this group that has complete control over the prisoner in the story. The prisoner in the story is captured by the Spanish Inquisition and is thrown into the cell with the pendulum fast approaching, and the pit near in sight. Dominance can affect the brain in several ways. Although there is no indication that the prisoner has experienced dominance like this before, he is now experiencing dominance in its most extreme sense. Dominance can be both mental and physical, and it can be seen in both forms in this short story. To be completely helpless, not being able to move with free will is dominance at its most extreme sense. At one point, the prisoner is tied down to a wooden board preventing him from moving at all. The Inquisition has complete dominance over him at this point, making sure he the pendulum hits him. He is strapped down without the ability to move with death facing him right in the eye. Although not directly stated, there was a sense of mental dominance exerted on the prisoner. He managed to overcome this mental dominance barrier to think rationally enough to figure out an escape plan to escape from the approaching razor sharp pendulum. He begins to feel this dominant force as he sits at trial waiting for his sentencing. He cannot bear to hear his sentencing because he begins to picture the torture methods that they use and it makes him sick. Dominance and its effects were seen as soon as his trial, all the way until he managed to escape. Torture and dominance go hand in hard. Without the dominance that the Spanish Inquisition exerts on the prisoner, he would not have experienced such horror and threat of torture.

In the first article examined, the effects that a position of dominance can have on a person can shape them into a completely different person. When someone has a dominant position over someone else, it will form them into somewhat of a different character with a different set of ideals and practices. In addition to this theory, "The Effects of Dominance on Leadership and Energetic Gain” also showcases the idea that in the presence of a dominant group, certain social interaction costs are reduced, and things may be compromised (A Dynamic Game between Pairs of Social Foragers).  Depending on the position one might have in a dominant group, the social interaction cost is different. This thus will influence the interaction on the group. In addition to this idea, the article touches on the fact that a dominant group will force all of its followers to conform to its specific views. If someone decides to stray from these beliefs, they will no longer be a part of this group. This article in related to “The pit and the Pendulum” because it explains how the Spanish Inquisition assimilated their sense of dominance over the prisoner in the story. It also hints upon the fact that this group of people all developed the same beliefs due to the fact that they are a part of this small closed group. It also hints that torture might not be the popular belief of everyone in the Spanish Inquisition, but they all practice it because they are all a part of this dominant group. This article helps shed light on the fact that  the Spanish Inquisition believed at this time that they were the dominant group, and that their beliefs trumped others. They were a conformist group, and if you did not believe what they believed in you were therefore an outsider. Poe added this element of dominance to explain the relationship between two different classes of people. It can be applicable in real life situations as well. The relationship between a dominant group, and the group that they have power over can be seen throughout daily life. Poe offers this more extreme sense of this concept to show exactly how relationships like these function.

The second article examines the Stanford prisoner experiment conducted in 1971. The experiment took a group of students from the university and made some of the students “prisoners” and the others the other group the “jail security”. When the experiment first started, the students did not take it seriously, but as the experiment continued they started fitting into their positions. Those students who were selected as the dominant security began acting as though they actually had dominance over the other students even though it was only a study. They began treating the other students as though they were actually prisoners. This has a impact on the short story examined because it shows how having a position of dominance can make a group of people act as though they have a high level of superiority over another person or group. Because the Spanish Inquisition was considered powerful, they acted as though they had so much more dominance than they actually had over people. This shows that with a position of power, a group of people can act as though they have complete power over a person, like the prisoner in the story. With the help of these two articles, the concept of dominance is better highlighted in “The Pit and the Pendulum”. 

With the concepts of fear and dominance working together in “The Pit and the Pendulum”, Poe is able to tell a story that teaches many life lessons to the readers. He shows that fear and dominance are only subjective, and that they can be overcome. The prisoner does not let fear stop him, and in fact lets it motivate him to find an escape plan. Rather, fear lights a fire underneath him that allows him to think rationally and fast in this severe situation. Poe plays off of the Spanish Inquisition’s dominance over those they captured, showing that dominance is also relative. The Stanford Prison study better shows that dominance can be created, and is not destined. To have dominance means that a group of people have assumed that they maintain power over another group or person. In reality, they have no more power than the next person. Poe uses these two concepts to help show the importance of the main plot of the story.
