Edgar Allen Poe has a way of writing like no other. He uses darkness, suspense and sadness to describe his scenes and plots. The Pit and the Pendulum is one of his many works written and loved by many. Edgar writes about the era called the Spanish Inquisition. During the Spanish Inquisition, prisoners were tormented and tried for heresy. Poe writes through a narrator known as the prisoner of the story, he talks about his trial experience. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Poe doesn't tell us why the prisoner is on trial, all we know is that he is in a room full of men. As mentioned previously, we can assume that the narrator is there because he has been convicted of heresy; there is no way to be certain because Poe does not mention why the man is there. Poe uses the symbol of seven candles during this story, the candles placed on a table burn slowly. The narrator mentions that as the candles slowly burn, his hope of surviving diminishes. We then learn that he was sentenced to death as punishment. He is then placed in a cell where he faints from time to time for unknown reasons. Between the faints, events occur. It tries to measure the cell in which it is placed. He keeps passing out randomly, waking up with food and water placed in the cell. He continues to try to measure the walls of his cell and discovers that they are 100 steps. While moving around his cell, he accidentally trips on his robe which falls to the floor. He looks straight ahead and sees an endless chasm of darkness. For if he had not stumbled, he would have fallen into the pit. He jokes like it's the demon's plan for him to fall into the abyss. After regaining consciousness, he lies down facing the ceiling where he sees an image that the narrator describes as Father Time. Attached to this is a pendulum which the narrator says is extremely sharp and swings back and forth. The pendulum swings slowly, getting closer and closer to our narrator, who is supposed to kill him at some point. An important detail the narrator makes is that he lures rats to chew on his ropes using his leftover meat and is able to escape from the pendulum just in time. However, once he escapes the pendulum, he finds himself confronted with the walls closing in on him. The room because hot, burning. Just before being crushed, it is removed from the room. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized paper now from our expert writers. Get a Custom Essay The French army had taken control of Toledo and the Inquisition. He heard trumpets and voices. He was elated to have been saved from the burning room. Happy to be saved from the punishment of his crime, whatever it may be.