A Comparative Study of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum" and Sadeq Chubak's "A Man in Cage" from a Jungian Perspective

Abstract

1. Introduction The present paper aims to conduct a comparative study of two Iranian and American forerunners of modern fiction. The study which is the first of this kind as far as the two authors are concerned, contends that “A Man in Cage” by Sadeq Chubak reveals similarities to Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum” although the former does not lose its artistic independence. 2. Methodology The approach which is adopted in this study is Jungian and it is hoped to prove that it is possible to find more or less similar reactions to similar human issues in life and literature based on an archetypal perspective. 3. Findings and discussion The archetype of mother studied in this paper and applied on the two stories reveals a sad fact that most male authors adopt more or less similar patriarchal strategies in their writing regardless of time and place. 4. Conclusion It is revealed how archetypes which are universal symbols can be objectified in different ways under different circumstances. In the conclusion there are some Jungian suggestions to solve this problem and modify a sexist perspective towards female-related issues.

Keywords

• sadeq chubak
• edgar allan poe
• carl jung
• archetypal criticism