illustration of a blade on the end of a pendulum swinging above a man's head

The Pit and the Pendulum

by Edgar Allan Poe

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The Pit and the Pendulum

In "The Pit and the Pendulum," the "voices" at the beginning and end of the story are both associated with the Inquisition but differ in tone and context. Initially, the voices are a "dreamy,...

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The Pit and the Pendulum

In "The Pit and the Pendulum," the pendulum symbolizes the relentless and inevitable passage of time, likening the Spanish Inquisition's inescapable force to Time itself. The pendulum is described as...

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The Pit and the Pendulum

The narrator needs to understand his surroundings to manage his fear and confirm whether he is buried alive, a common fear during the Spanish Inquisition. He measures his cell by tearing a piece of...

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