Literary Criticism Article on "The Pit and the Pendulum"

In the Article “Apocalyptic Imagery and the Fragmentation of the Psyche: ‘The Pit and the Pendulum,’” Jeanne M. Malloy brings up many arguments about Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum.” Throughout her article, she supports her arguments with other critics points of views. With this, she was able to make a good citation of her sources when using their ideas. Even though Malloy was able to support her arguments, her flaw was in having too many arguments and not narrowing it down to just focusing on a few main points. This took away effect from the entire piece because with so many ideas being thrown out to the reader, he/she was not able to focus on main points and key arguments.

“Apocalyptic Imagery and the Fragmentation of the Psyche: ‘The Pit and the Pendulum,’” introduces many arguments to the reader. Throughout this piece, Malloy argued that in “The Pit and the Pendulum,” Edgar Allen Poe “uses apocalyptic imagery as part of the psychological reconception of the myth of the Fall” with the association of the divine with infancy, childhood, special states of consciousness. (pg 86, 88) Along with this she argues Poe‘s interest in psychology, especially the language of despair. (pg 84) Also she relates the story to the Book of Revelation which “sets forth the promise of salvation, the eternal life granted the faithful.” (pg 83) Last of all, she argues Poe’s insistence in the “boundary between reason and instinct.” (pg 92)

With so many arguments, Malloy made a good use of citation through her piece when using other critics of Poe’s similar ideas. When she made an argument, she would have enough supporting details to get her point accross and make the argument valid. Malloy was able to use not only her opinions, but those of others who shared the same ideas. She would state the arguments and add on to that claim with supporting details. In citing her sources, she used phrases like: “as David H. Hirsch has pointed out, in the ‘Drake-Halleck’ review of 1836, according to M.H. Abrams, as Bonaparte points out, as Blake’s ‘Songs of Innocence’ and Wordsworth’s ‘Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood’ show,” and many more. (pg 83, 84, 85, 87) As a result of these citations, the reader established a sense of credibility for Malloy.

Even though Malloy was able to introduce all these arguments and support them with countless of supporting details, her flaw was in having too many arguments. She was not able to focus on just the most important key points. As a result of this, the article was too broad, dealing with many ideas and opinions all at once. When the reader was faced with so many arguments, he/she lost focus on the main point of the entire piece. This caused the whole argument of the article to loose its emphasis. Therefore, Malloy’s article was not as effective as it could have been.

In order to improve her article, Malloy would have to narrow down the topic. She should just focus on a few key points and really emphasize those arguments through the article. Malloy should continue using the opinions and points of views of other critics of Poe’s to support her thoughts. Supporting details and counterarguments could only work in favor of her writing piece. Once Malloy looses the broadness of her piece, the article would be more effective.

Overall, in “Apocalyptic Imagery and the Fragmentation of the Psyche: ‘The Pit and the Pendulum,’” Jeanne M. Malloy made good use of citation and supporting details. She was able to use other critics of Poe’s views in her favor to backup her arguments. Malloy was able to establish a sense of credibility through her piece. She lost the articles focus by mentioning too many arguments in the article. Malloy should have emphasized just the most important key points of the main idea, and kept the argument more narrow. This would have made her article more effective to the reader.