Fear Reflected by Imagery and Symbolism Essay Example

In these selected short stories, the narrator shows fear by using figurative language, symbolism, and imagery. Works used are Poe, Edgar A. “The Pit and the Pendulum.”, Connell, Richard. “The Most Dangerous Game.”, Murakami, Haruki. “The Seventh Man.”.

In the short story, “The Pit and the Pendulum” the author describes three instances of imagery and symbolism reflected by fear. For example, After the judges vanished, the candles were consumed by the darkness.  I know this because, the text states, “The judges vanished, as if magically, from before me; the tall candles sank into nothingness; the blackness of darkness supervened; all sensations appeared swallowed up in a mad rushing descent as of the soul into Hades” (Poe, paragraph one).  Another example is the narrator was terrified to move around the tomb without any ray of light. As seen in the text, "A fearful idea now suddenly drove the blood in torrents upon my heart, and for a brief period, I once more relapsed into insensibility. Upon recovering, I at once started to my feet, trembling convulsively in every fiber. I thrust my arms wildly above and around me in all directions. I felt nothing; yet dreaded to move a step, lest I should be impeded by the walls of a tomb” (Poe, paragraph two).

The Most Dangerous Game’s example of fear was during the beginning of the story when Rainsford was startled by the gunshots being let off in the pure darkness of the light. For instance, in paragraph thirty, the text quotes, “An abrupt sound startled him. Off to the right, he heard it, and his ears, expert in such matters, could not be mistaken. He heard the sound again, and again. Somewhere off in the blackness, someone had fired a gun three times.” Another instance is where Rainsford sat stiffly after General Zarrof confessed to hunting human beings on his island as a game. I know this because the text states, "An abrupt sound startled him. Off to the right, he heard it, and his ears, expert in such matters, could not be mistaken. He heard the sound again, and again. Somewhere off in the blackness, someone had fired a gun three times. An abrupt sound startled him. Off to the right, he heard it, and his ears, expert in such matters, could not be mistaken. He heard the sound again, and again. Somewhere off in the blackness, someone had fired a gun three times" (Connell, paragraphs 105-115).

In “The Seventh Man” the example of fear is shown through personification. For example, the seventh man stated that the wave swallowed everything that meant the most to him. I know this because the text states, “It just barely missed me, but in my place, it swallowed everything that mattered the most to me and swept it off to another world. I took years to recover from the experience- precious years that can never be replaced.” Another example of symbolism in the text is where a snake-like wave came and wiped out anything it met. In the text it states, “A wave like a huge snake with its head held high, poised to strike, was racing towards the shore. I had never seen anything like it in my life. It had to be as tall as a three-story building.” (Murakami, paragraph thirty-one)

In conclusion, the symbolism for Poe, Edgar A. “The Pit and the Pendulum” was the narrator being afraid of eternal darkness.  In “Connell, Richard. “The Most Dangerous Game.”, Rainsford’s fear was being hunted. In Murakami, Haruki. “The Seventh Man.”, the seventh man’s fear was represented by the wave wiping out mostly everything that he cared for.