In Edgar Allan Poe's tale "The Pit and the Pendulum," much of the
             imagery is frightening and upsetting. The story opens with the narrator
             who has been condemned to death. He observes that there are seven candles
             in his line of sight. First he sees them as angels and believes that
             perhaps charity is something that will come his way. As he looks at them,
             however, they change into ghosts or specters and he sees them as having
             heads of flame. There is a reason that Poe has begun his tale this way.
             He starts out with such a frightening concept that the narrator has to deal
             with so that he can drag the reader into the nightmarish world that the
             This is important for the understanding of the tale because if Poe was
             not able to engage the reader's attention and drag him or her into the
             terrible world that the narrator is dealing with there would be no way to
             make the tale as interesting. There is also a great deal of significance
             to this because the pit represents much more than just a hole in the
             darkness. It has also been likened to the unknown that all men must
             someday face. The pit is not necessarily death, although some individuals
             may see it that way. In general, however, the pit represents simply that
             which is unknown and dark in a world that is normally inhabited by light.
             Poe must make the individuals who read his tale realize this if he is to
             make the significance of his story understood.
             The place where the narrator ends up is also important. He has been
             sentenced to death by the Inquisition. They are dark-robed and frightening
             individuals who seem to represent all that is evil and joyless in the
             world. They can represent many things to many people, but it is clear that
             their purpose is to inflict pain on others and make certain that the
             anguish and despair that they seem to feel is felt by all others that they
             come in contact with. They make sure tha...