Pit and the Pendulum by Poe

In Poe’s story the “The Pit and the Pendulum” he distinctively uses symbolism, repetition, mood and diction to tell a tale of hope over circumstance to make this story come to life for the reader. Unlike the hypersensitive characters from other stories, such as the narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart,” this narrator claims to lose the capacity of sensation during the swoon upon receiving his death sentence that opens the story. This story is different from Poe’s other works such as this narrator remains hopeful in his emotional state; he is able to describe his surroundings while also portraying his emotional chaos. We the readers are not given specific circumstances of his arrest, nor are we given any evidence for his innocence. Although, even without those details he gives us a famous suspense story that is violent and graphic yet hopeful and ethically allusive.
The stories intentions aim at not only the physical pain of death, but the realization that a victim has no choice but to die. Whether the narrator chooses to jump into the pit or get separated by the pendulum, he faces an indistinguishable conclusion —death. This may not be the path any of us want to take in our life time, but in the end, we have no choice. This story strives to display his lack of choice while displaying hope when he does what some would call nearly impossible; he does not submit to the swooning and recruits his sensible abilities. When he awakes from his swoon, he faces complete darkness.
This story has plenty of symbolism throughout the story such as the pit that represents the pit of hell or the pendulum which like a clock pendulum swinging back and forth represents time. The rats viewed normally as unwanted creatures, represent a second chance as they chew through his bindings freeing him to escape from the pendulum. General LaSalle is a symbol that resembles a Christ-like figure who overtakes the corruptness of the church and is the voice of reason. The narrator used something