Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of this story. In “The Pit and the Pendulum,” the narrator explains, "The intensity of the darkness seemed to oppress and stifle me." Why does Poe include this description of the narrator's feelings about the darkness?
By having the narrator describe the darkness as a force that has a physical impact on him, Poe helps create a claustrophobic mood and a sense of the narrator's great fear and discomfort.
By having the narrator focus on his own feelings of being oppressed and stifled, Poe establishes the idea that the real danger that the narrator faces exists only in the narrator's mind.
By having the narrator focus on the intensity of the darkness, Poe effectively directs the attention of readers away from the dangers that lurk within that darkness and lays the groundwork for the story's surprise ending.
By having the narrator describe how something as ordinary as darkness bothers him, Poe is able to establish the narrator as an unreliable figure who is prone to exaggerations and lies.
