Examples Of Fear In Gothic Literature

The Dangerous Repercussions of Fear

Fear is a sense that can improve daily life. If you are in a dark neighborhood with run-down buildings, fear is what stops you from moving forward. Fear makes the senses more acute and restrains you from making irrational decisions. However, fear can also do the exact opposite, clouding rational thoughts and causing paranoia. Fear can be extremely dangerous to the mind in the right circumstances. This concept is commonly found in gothic literature, usually giving examples of how fear can be negative. For example, the poet Edgar Allan Poe wrote three stories, the “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Masque of Red Death”, and “The Pit and the Pendulum”, that exemplify this idea using literary devices. Poe uses symbolism, irony, and imagery to demonstrate how fear and paranoia can warp your sense of

The narrator, after being inquired by the Spanish, was thrown in a eerie, dark dungeon. Poe describes, “...the tall candles sank into nothingness; their flames went out utterly; the blackness of darkness supervened; all sensations appeared swallowed up in a mad rushing descent as of the soul into Hades. Then silence, and stillness, and night were the universe” (63). This description depicts the fear the narrator was feeling as he descended into the dungeon and describes how the inquisitors are not the angels he thought they were. Surprisingly enough, the narrator did not have an unnatural obsession or fear of death. Even in an extremely dark room, the narrator remained calm. He was scared, but he didn’t let that fear cloud rational thoughts and actions. He knows that he can survive for longer if he remains stoic. Using rationality and cleverness to stay alive should be the number one priority. No matter how dismal the situation looks, there is always hope. Staying hopeful and keeping a balance of emotion and rationality can save