(855) 4-ESSAYS

Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

A Descent into MaelstrÖm


Therefore, he is similar to the narrator of "The Pit and the Pendulum," whose first reaction to the chaotic, dreamlike dungeon-world is to measure it. Measurement is useless, but even though it is so, the prisoner's estimates that both the size and the shape of the dungeon are wrong. .
             Once caught in the MaelstrÖm, escape for the sailor comes in several stages, the first of which is a type of beneficial despair. He initially makes up his mind to hope no more, and so he relieves himself of a great deal of terror, a terror which would have driven him, like his brother, insane. But the state of hopelessness has other effects as well. In his rejection of hope, the sailor makes no plan for escape. He comes to realize that, when confronted with the total of the MaelstrÖm, man's reason is indeed impotent. So he arrives at a primary stage of transcendence. Nothing to gain, no plan to formulate, no expectations to make, the sailor can do something he has never really done before: he can look at the abyss with detachment. Then, almost inevitably, there follows an awareness and appreciation of the awesome beauty of the MaelstrÖm. Immediately after he abandons hope and consequently rational expectations, the sailor reflects on how magnificent a thing it would be to die in so wonderful a manifestation of God's power. Added to the activity of the MaelstrÖm itself are the moonbeams, shooting forth in a flood of golden glory and, when reflected in the ebony sides of the vortex, producing a gleaming and ghastly radiance. Appreciating the chaotic beauty of the MaelstrÖm, the sailor is taking both a necessary step in avoiding madness and a preliminary step towards achieving salvation. In this respect, he is again comparable to the narrator of "The Pit and the Pendulum, " who having also abandoned the rationality of the external world, stares at the descending blade somewhat in fear, but more in wonder and then lies smiling at the glittering death, as a child at some rare bauble.


Essays Related to A Descent into MaelstrÖm


Got a writing question? Ask our professional writer!
Submit My Question